I’ll admit my bias here but Sorcerer King is extremely fun.

What is it? It’s a fantasy strategy game with a lot of role playing elements.  Or it’s an RPG with strategy elements.  You be the judge:

It’s a strategy game because

1. You train units
2. You found new cities
3. You build up your cities
4. You engage in diplomacy with rival civilizations
5. You can terraform the map (using  magic)
6. You harvest resources
7. You can craft weapons, armor, etc.
8. You research new “technologies” (skills)

It’s an RPG because

1. You take on a specific role at the start of the game
2. You go on quests
3. There is a central villain (The Sorcerer King) who responds to you differently each game based on your actions
4. You gain experience and go up a skill tree
5. You learn new spells
6. Your interactions and decisions in the world affect what quests you can go on

Fallen Enchantress vs. Sorcerer King

Our last game in the Elemental game universe was Fallen Enchantress and it was straight up a 4X strategy game.

Star Control vs. Sorcerer King

This may seem counter-intuitive but the game that inspired Sorcerer King the most was Star Control 2.

In Sorcerer King, the war is over. Your side lost.  Now, the Sorcerer King is looking to become a god which is a bit of a problem because it requires all living things in the world to die for him to do it. 

Now, you must go and unite former rivals, go on quests and build your characters up to confront him.  The game does have a campaign that provides a very curated experience (similar to the Star Control main story).  But Sorcerer King also supports a very sophisticated sandbox (which is we’ve had to spend 3 or so  years on this game). 

What character you start with determines the entire course of the game. Not just because each one has lots of different cool features (it does) but also because the story elements each character receives changes based on this as well.  On top of that, every quest feeds every other quest. The options and consequences of quests in the game mean that each game will be different – even the campaign.

Sorcerer King in images

You can choose between 6 entirely different sovereigns. Each has their own story and their own series of interactions with the world (which take many games to even experience most for just one character).

You can also choose your own rivals (or have them randomly chosen) that you’ll have to contend with (or win over).  They have their own baggage with each other as well.

You also can set up the backstory for each sovereign at the start of the game which changes your starting conditions.

Across the world there are elemental shards. By capturing them, you can invest their magic into lore (new spells), skill (which gives you new abilities), or mana (for casting spells).

Learning new spells

Your sovereign’s skill tree.

Sorcerer King’s quests, written by Chris Bucholz (a columnist at Cracked.com), both progress each game’s unique experience but are also enjoyable for themselves.

The Sorcerer King wants to be your friend. Or specifically, wants to keep you from meddling with his quest to become a god.  How he treats you depends on which character you’ve chosen to play as as well as what decisions you’ve already made.

Through the course of the game, you will be able to find recipes and craft new items for your units

If you antagonize the Sorcerer King too quickly, you will suffer his wrath as he starts out much more powerful than the player.

Every unit can be equipped

Mid game crafting gets especially powerful as you can create unique items without recipes.

Using your magic, you can raise mountains to protect your cities (or create land bridges across the water).

Your ultimate objective

You can win the game by either defeating the Sorcerer King through strength of arms or supplanting him by becoming a god yourself (capture shards to fuel your own spell of godhood).

How to get it

Sorcerer King will be released on July 16, 2015 at www.sorcererking.com.