Click to enlarge

Tales of the Rampant Coyote, a blog on the Rampant Games website, recently posted an interview with Planewalker Games' Jason Compton. The in-depth interview examines Planewalker's upcoming RPG, The Broken Hourglass, a fantasy adventure constructed in the style of classics in the genre.

Rampant Coyote: Besides the fact that it is for “ Baldur’s Gate Fans,” if you had one or two “hooks” … you know, big marketing plugs there to say, “This is what makes The Broken Hourglass so freaking cool,” what would they be?

Jason: I… Right now we’re at the point of just saying, “Oh, we’ve worked so hard on it, buy our game!” But I know that’s not a realistic expectation.

I guess the thing I’d say the “hook” is that we are making a story for you, the player. There’s been a lot of emphasis lately… and I’m not saying it’s bad or negative or hurts people or whatever … but there’s been a lot of emphasis on building multiplayer worlds where a lot of the story or engagement is based around you and some people that you managed to hook up with and collaborate with. And you build the story around the programmed events in the game. And that’s fine.

And then there are games where the exploration is the story. They give you kind of a loose plot thread, and the story comes together in your head as you buy houses and play dress-up. And that’s fine, too, but… the way we’re doing it is: We are building a story – what we hope is a rich and engaging story – for you the player, with you in mind, for you to play on your own, to enjoy, to immerse yourself in. Certainly to discuss it with your friends and collaborate with on strategies or mods or whatever. But it is built as a single-player experience.

And that’s something that not everyone can say that they do right now. I think that there is still a need for that. The same as there is a need for group events, and there is a need for being able to go home and read a book. We are more the reading-a-book side of it.

TotRC: Planewalker Games Interview

The Broken Hourglass (add to watch list)

Search for other Mac games news stories or browse our Mac Games News Archive.