The Council

The Council is a 2018 episodic interactive mystery graphic adventure video game developed by Big Bad Wolf and published by Focus Home Interactive. It was released in five episodes between March 13, 2018, and December 4, 2018. Set in 1793, The Council follows Louis de Richet, a French man searching for his missing mother Sarah, who is the head of the French branch of a secret society known as the Golden Order. Louis arrives on an elusive island near the coast of England where various influential political figures from Europe and the United States are gathering for a mysterious purpose. The game combines fictional characters with real-life figures such as George Washington, Napoléon Bonaparte and Manuel Godoy, all of whom appear as key characters, and also heavily features real-life paintings, books and sculptures as part of its setting and puzzles. The first release of French development studio Big Bad Wolf, a branch of Cyanide, it also incorporates RPG elements in the form of leveling and skill systems, which influence the interactions with both the environment and non-player characters. The game received a mixed to positive reception, with most praise going to the complex story, setting, and art direction, and most of the criticism aimed at the graphics, character animation, and technical issues.