Working on the Six Ages games was amazing. It gave me a chance to revisit King of Dragon Pass’s genre of narrative strategy games. And another chance to explore Greg Stafford’s richly detailed world of Glorantha. To say nothing about working with a talented creative team.
It’s also touching how many of you have enjoyed the games and would like another. We really appreciate it.
So it wasn’t easy to step away, but I’m excited to try something different for my next project. Instead of a narrative strategy game set in Glorantha, it’s a tactical narrative game in a new setting. But a lot of the core elements will be the same, the ingredients that combine to make interesting stories. You’ll still direct a set of characters with their own personalities and goals. Mythology is still at the heart of the game, which will draw on some of our oldest epics. This will help give the stories layers of meaning. Procedural generation means that each playthrough will be different. And of course your choices matter.
A big reason to set aside Six Ages was how long the games take to create. I had hoped that the second game would be much quicker to make, since all the infrastructure would be in place. That was true—I didn’t have to create a user interface or a scripting language or a system for automated testing—but it didn’t account for the fact that the story would be longer, and thus take longer to write, illustrate, and test. Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind took nearly 4 years to create. Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out took nearly 5 years.
So I’m hoping that by switching gears I can get a game out before 2028. I should be able to share more in upcoming months. Sign up to our mailing list (hosted by our publisher) or follow https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@asharp to find out.
Thanks for your support!
I wish you the best and looking forward to playing your next game!
Always good to read that you’re working on a new game, David. Your games have always had a lasting appeal. I have to admit: I was looking forward to The World Reborn, to complete the saga of my defiant Raw Blood clan. But I’m equally excited to read about the tactical narrative experience.
Where Davidstead is we follow!
It’s exciting to hear that you’re building on the narrative strengths of Six Ages while exploring a new setting. Mythology and procedural storytelling sound like a perfect pairing—looking forward to seeing how those ancient epics shape the gameplay.
Bittersweet news. I loved both Six Ages games dearly (and KoDP as well) and I’m sad we won’t be seeing The World Reborn, at least not any time soon. But I’m excited to see where you’ll take us next. Best of luck with your new project!
Ooohh, I’m sad now. I hope you’ll still get the motivation to make The World Reborn later on.
What is the difference between a narrative strategy game and a narrative tactical game, and why will this one take less time to write?
I imagine a narrative tactical game would be something else altogether, perhaps Inkle’s Pendragon? KoDP and Six Ages could be interpreted as strategy games like one of their influences, Civilization. The next game won’t.