65%Strong matchThe Crown of Leaves
96%2k96% positive reviews, Overwhelmingly Positive across 2k reviews·Visual Novel · Story Rich
—







A war of unseen ferocity is ravaging the continent. You, ringmaster dilettante, must keep the circus afloat. Travel, entertain, and keep the troupe’s spirits up while trying to find a mythical safe haven to last out the storm in this beautifully illustrated, text-based narrative adventure.
The Great Sassanelli
Steam
A beautifully written interactive novel about managing a travelling circus in WWI Europe:
You play as young Johan, ringmaster dilettante, as he leads Madame Gloria’s Circo Sarabanda through ravaged lands.
While war breaks out all around you on a scale never seen before, you are tasked with keeping the circus afloat – until you find that mythical safe haven vagrants, outcasts and circus folk have been telling stories about since the beginning of time: Cuculia, the Kingdom of Birds.
Travel between towns and across borders, earn money by staging performances for a populace shaken by loss and grief, manage your resources wisely, and protect your people from danger as you solve the overarching mystery of Cuculia's true nature.

THE GREAT SASSANELLI’s evocative prose offers a unique cast of fully realised NPCS, reams of sparkling dialogue, and an abundance of carefully crafted, well-written stories set in a war-torn world – some light-hearted, some tragic, some both.
In your travels, you will meet a number of Gifted Performers you can hire – meticulously crafted NPCs with their own goals, interests, sympathies, and aversions, each coming with their own special act, story arc, and gameplay perks.

Hundreds of choices allow the player to pace, branch, roleplay and control a multitude of enthralling storylines, some of them tough and morally complex.
Solve the mystery of Cuculia, the Kingdom of Birds – a mythical safe haven for travelling folk, a campfire tall tale, rumoured to exist in many places at the same time, or nowhere at all. Will you be able to pin down its true nature? In a series of puzzles involving real-world poetry, deduction and timing, you’ll edge ever closer to the heart of its secret – until the curtain rises on the Grand Finale.

In a lightweight economic sim closely entwined with the game’s story, you’ll make narrative choices that control the ebb and flow of money, fame, employees, and troupe morale, always keeping on the move to find new audiences to entertain.
Inspired by prominent art movements of the early 1900s, the unique, painterly art style immerses you even deeper in the peculiar, magical-realist world of THE GREAT SASSANELLI.

Steam data © 2026 Valve Corporation. Trademarks are property of their respective owners.
All matches
Finding similar games…
The Crown of LeavesShares Choices Matter · Visual Novel · Emotional , adds Point & Click96% · 2k positive reviews65%Strong match—
Tavern Talk - A Cozy Visual NovelShares Choices Matter · Interactive Fiction · Visual Novel , adds LGBTQ+92% · 1k positive reviews63%Good match—
Caravan SandWitchShares Interactive Fiction · Stylized · Choose Your Own Adventure , adds Exploration89% · 2k positive reviews65%Strong match—
SuzerainShares Choices Matter · Interactive Fiction · Text-Based , adds Political Sim93% · 8k positive reviews62%Good match—
Circus ElectriqueShares Historical , adds Steampunk73% · 247 positive reviews68%Strong match—
VaudevilleShares Choices Matter · Interactive Fiction · Narrative , adds Sandbox52% · 247 positive reviews63%Good match—All matches
The best games like The Great Sassanelli are The Crown of Leaves, Tavern Talk - A Cozy Visual Novel, Caravan SandWitch, Suzerain, and Circus Electrique.
Match on: filter matches for The Great Sassanelli by tag
Filters all matches
65%+Strong matches
50%+Good matches