Written by Alison Joy Schafer & Kristen McFadyen Patten
Female roles: 8
Male roles: 8
Flex: 10

A grandfather clock chimes, a sound that rings through lands both seen and unseen. Drosselmeyer winds up his latest invention and somewhere, somehow, a storybook comes to life, and a child jumps in. His clockwork machines twirl and hiss and somewhere a rabbit hole becomes a portal to another world. Lands are discovered full of sweets and flowers and circus performers. It is a magical world of snowflakes, gingerbread soldiers, and an army of mice.

The Four Realms - the Land of Sweets, the Land of Flowers, the Land of Snowflakes, and the Land of Amusements - offer an endless glittering showcase of beauty and magic! Mortal visitors journey through the realms, taking in the stunning sensations that each has to offer: the amazing sites of a circus spectacular, the taste of fresh snowflakes falling onto their lips, the smell of sweet sugar plums, the feeling of dancing amidst the flowers!

Then suddenly the melody shifts and a ballerina falters in her plié. The Four Realms begin to collide and crumble. The snowflakes are melting, the flowers are freezing, the circus is less amusing, and the sweets have become…darker.

A Fifth Realm, too, had once existed. A terrible war raged between this realm and the victorious Mouse King. Where once there was a Land of Toys…now there is only a dead world. Only one toy remains to mourn the rest - a nutcracker.

And somewhere far away, a mortal girl, all grown up, weeps for her nutcracker once again.

Who else may have found their way here through a book, through their dreams, or through magic? And how long until there are no more realms left to dream of?

The Four Realms will be a game about exploring beautiful worlds, experiencing adventure in each, and then making impossible decisions as the worlds crumble and people change, friends becoming unrecognizable. Players can expect interpersonal conflicts, secrets revealed, and choose-your-own-adventures exploring the worlds. How far will you be willing to go for love? To save your home? To find redemption? Will your last dream be one of beauty, of surrender, of forgiveness, or of regret? Which realm will dance their last dance? The clock is chiming.

Content Considerations:

Backstories will include the fall of a realm and a war that involves toy soldiers and mice, but with no graphic descriptions of violence. Romantic and sexual scenes between characters will also be present but will be PG13. The game will also have a theme of the idea of loss, of friends, of time, of a realm, of things coming to an end.