The playable demo of Spire of Sorcery is available for everyone to try during Steam Next Fest, starting on
June 16, 2021. To us and to many other development teams, participation in the Fest feels like preparing for E3 and Gamescom at the same time – with the excitement of PAX and EGX thrown on top.
We hope that everyone gets to discover a whole bunch of great new games!
Spire of Sorcery is a party RPG with turn-based exploration and battles that we develop for a few years, and will release into Early Access in just a few months, this autumn.
You can eat mushrooms that change your character's hair color!
You can cook and concoct, mixing resources and discovering recipes!
You can set forests on fire, blind opponents with lightnings, dissolve locks with acid and capture demons to turn them into a useful alchemic substance.
And all throughout the game, you will cast spells, as you play for a party of runaway mages.
When the time came to write the official description of the game, we of course gave some official definitions: it’s turn-based and hex-based; characters have personal stats and traits; the process mixes encounters and exploration, plus some deck-building.
But we don’t really see the game through this lens when we create it. Instead, we focus on the fun stuff that’s in the game: the fears and dreams of every character, their eating habits and their moral traits; what happens when someone consumes giggler eggs, or locust buds; how you can lure shadows under the raincloud and then paralyse them; and how you can get clothing from the corpses and deck-building books from abandoned palaces
Below you will find the FAQ that we complied to explain the basics of the game. On one hand, we urge you to read it at some point. On another, maybe just press PLAY DEMO and see how it feels! =)
Enjoy the festival – play as much as you can!
[h2]
Spire of Sorcery – FAQ[/h2]
[h3]
What is Spire of Sorcery?[/h3]
Spire of Sorcery is a game about a party of runaway mages. The game is set in the fantasy post-apocalyptic world of Rund, where possessing the magic talent is a crime.
[h3]
What genre is Spire of Sorcery?[/h3]
Spire of Sorcery is a party RPG with turn-based exploration and battles.
[h3]
When is Spire of Sorcery going to be released?[/h3]
We plan to enter Early Access on Steam in the autumn of 2021. We’re currently in beta, with weekly build updates for those who play the beta.
[h3]
Spire of Sorcery was first announced in 2017. What happened?[/h3]
Once we created the word of Rund, we tried a different kind of gameplay – but then decided not to pursue it, as it wasn't as fun as we hoped it would be. We’ve spent the last year developing the current version of the game – turned-based party RPG – which represents our best effort and which we ourselves play every day. You can read
this Steam announcement for more details about the transition and the story of the project.
[h3]
How replayable is Spire of Sorcery?[/h3]
We have the modding at the heart of our philosophy, so be assured that the game will have accessible editing tools once it’s finished. But even ahead of that, we’ve built in enough flexibility in the world-generation algorithms to make each campaign different from another. Sometimes this means you’ll have a very easy time completing the chapter, and sometimes this means you’ll have a real challenge.
[h3]
Are you planning to translate Spire of Sorcery into a specific language?[/h3]
We currently support English, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, French and German languages. Outside of the first two, all the languages experience about 2-3 weeks of delay between when new content shows up in the build, and when it becomes available in a specific language – our translators do their best to keep the pace, but such delays are unavoidable if you want to have a high-quality translation and not a “rush job”. We currently do not have plans to support other languages, but this may change due to sales into specific regions. We also plan to allow any localisations that the community wants to make, via Steam Workshop.
[h3]
How will the final version differ from the demo?[/h3]
The Early Access version of the game, when it releases, will have a few more challenging chapters. The full version of the game, when it becomes available, will feature the complete story of the mages – from their escape from the Sanctuary to their arrival in the Distorted Lands. More content and more features – for sure. We try not to get ahead of ourselves, and we design the game step by step. While the Early Access version of the game is expected to ship in the autumn of 2021, the full version is going to ship not earlier than the end of 2022, as we plan to add a bunch of fun content, and it takes time to create.
[h3]
How long does it take to complete the game?[/h3]
Spire of Sorcery is based on a campaign, which consists of chapters. Each chapter (outside of the tutorial) takes about 1 hour to complete. The Early Access version of the game will have between 2 and 4 such chapters, and the full version of the game will have between 10 and 15 such chapters – plus whatever side chapters we’ll add, along the way.
In
our previous game, we have quite a lot of players who spent 1,000+ hours in the game, and we’re really happy for them – it is also a proof that we can make engaging games. But in general, we think that any game should take no more than 10-12 hours to play through, and then if you like, you can replay it in a different fashion. But as parents with children, we don’t really support the idea of “you must spend 40-60 hours in the game to see the end of it” concept.
[h3]
Multiplayer?[/h3]
Our previous game is an online digital board game, so naturally we’re tempted to try adding a sever mode to Spire of Sorcery, too. But for now, we have no plans that would be set in stone. Most likely, we’ll try to create some sort of an “online challenge” mode, where players can compete in finishing a custom chapter that we’ll create just for this purpose. But we have to first enter the Early Access mode, and finish the backbone of the game, before we can start with such experiments. Much also depends on how the community evolves.
[h3]
I don’t understand how the game works. Where can I find the explanation?[/h3]
Watch this tutorial video –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2pQK27o8e8
– or complete the first 4 tutorial chapters in the campaign.
If you still have questions, feel free to ask them on the game’s
official Discord server or on
Steam forums!
[h3]
I have a suggestion – where can I share it?[/h3]
We’re always happy to get feedback! The
Discord server and the
Steam forums are the best places to share it with us.
[h3]
What is NOT in the current demo, but will be a part of the game?[/h3]
We’ve got a few things in development that are going to happen, because we’ve tested them and they seem to produce fun effects:
- travel magic
- lots of moral choice stories
- adventures (simplified on-the-spot quests)
- personal relationships between party members
- non-human party companions
- the Spire, and its many upgrades
- a system of curses to compliment the system of injuries and diseases
- more creatures, more biomes, more weather effects, and more mechanics in general
[h3]
I don’t like this game. I think you should develop something else![/h3]
Just let it go, dude! We’re not going to be able to develop a game that pleases everyone (and their mother). Our small team is doing the best that we can to deliver an original, fun game with lots of content. It’s unavoidable that some players won’t like what we do. Please don’t hate it, just find a game that you like more – and support it and its creators! Let peace, love and cool games prevail.
[h3]
I like this game! How can I help?[/h3]
The most important thing for us is your feedback, and your comments. What drives us is the understanding that we make our players happy. Please wishlist the game, tell us about the parts that you love – and the parts that you find confusing – and we’ll do our damnedest best to improve the experience! We’re a team of 7, which is not a lot, and we’re only human, but with the motivation, and the goodwill of the community, we can move mountains!
