Stray Kite Studios, the indie developer founded by BioShock designer Paul Hellquist, has revealed its first title – fantasy themed real-time tactics roguelite Wartorn, which is coming to PC in early access of some ” spring”.
Stray Kite – whose other co-founder is Age of Empires Online lead programmer Shovaen Patel – has previously collaborated with the likes of Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep and Fortnite, but Wartorn will be the first to release . It follows two sisters, Yara and Elani, as they travel across the war-torn Isles of Talaur – a fantasy world “struck by the violence and conflict of old ties” – to reach the safety of their ancestral home.
Wartorn is described as a “single-player, team-based, competitive roguelite” that will see players finding groups of different characters – including goblins, elves, monsters , treefolk, and more – for their Caravan. Squads can be mixed and matched before battle, with combat, team coordination, and careful deployment of resources all said to be important. Losing, however, will lower morale, and it’s Game Over if all hope is lost.
In addition, there is a conversation about the event, the battle in the theme, making the players like fire, water, lightning, tar, and planta to create the competition especially – with burning fire, lightning over water, etc. That’s on top of the physics-based destruction environment, intended to add “depth and unpredictability” to combat – and also the slow-down time, given the players stop to issue commands to make “even the most difficult. scenarios … accessible”.
Stray Kite continues to emphasize the focus on narrative, with players encountering “unexpected” events with each new attempt to get home. These are said to be difficult decisions, affecting – from whom to receive food that will save lives – in addition to the “morality of violence and sacrifice”.
Hellquist explained in Wartorn’s announcement that “Wartorn challenges players to navigate a world of conflict while finding purpose and personal joy.” “We have poured our hearts into creating a game that is not only fun but also makes players think about sacrifice, survival, and unity among us.”
Wartorn is currently scheduled to enter early Room and Epic Games Store sometime this “spring”. Stray Kite promises to have “experiences and more units, team upgrades, customizable heroes, family members, biomes, maps, events, and quests ” at launch, with more to come as development progresses towards Wartorn’s 1.0 release..
