Fifteen years ago, A Sharp’s first game went on sale.
King of Dragon Pass was a unique blend of interactive storytelling and resource management, set in the mythical world of Glorantha.
In fifteen years, there has never been another game like it. King of Dragon Pass had its own influences, and has influenced other games. But nothing else interwove stories of politics, culture, and individuals, and tied them together with a living world of magic.
We are now working on a successor, with the working title Six Ages.
Over the years, lots of people asked for a sequel of some sort. The obvious follow-up would be a game that was just King of Dragon Pass with new scenes. I know that some players would be pleased with that, but that never felt like enough. If I’m going to work on something for over a year, the project needs to have at least some novel twist. (It doesn’t have to be as groundbreaking as King of Dragon Pass, which I believe was the first storytelling strategy game!) Over the years I toyed with some ideas, but nothing seemed like it would work. Finally, a few months ago, I had an inspiration.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much. Partly that’s because development is still in the early stages. Mostly it’s because Six Ages is an ambitious project, and won’t be released for well over a year. A lot can change in development. And right now, there’s nothing interesting to show anyway.
But I can say that the game will consist of meaningful story choices tied together by the economic challenges facing a small community. It will be set in
Glorantha and draw from its rich cultures and mythology. And it’s intended to be highly replayable.
And I’m excited that I will again be working with writer and game designer
Robin D. Laws, and artists
Jan Pospíšil (who did illustrations for King of Dragon Pass) and
Pat Ward (who I worked with at Shenandoah Studio). And when the game is further along, Liana Kerr will again be doing QA.