Roadwarden currently only costs 5 dollars on Steam.
One of the greatest strengths of the modern gaming landscape is its diversity. For every game idea imaginable from the last 40 years, there is some legacy that continues to hold the torch high today. Where the mainstream dominated in the 2000s, we are now swimming in really cool XCOM sequels, even Jagged Alliance 2 has a worthy heir, shooter veterans like Doom are launching their own subgenre 30 years after release, and there are intellectual sequels From Banjo-Kazooie to Zak McKracken, there’s definitely a successor to Pulleralarm somewhere.
And there is Roadwarden. A story role-playing game that uses a very special model: text adventures like Zork from 1980! Roadwarden does without cool open-world graphics and tells its story largely through text windows, but the 2022 game is anything but ugly!
Your adventures are constantly illustrated by beautiful pictures, you can see them in motion here:
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Text RPGs are dead? Roadwarden proves the opposite in the atmospheric trailer
Heavily reduced on Steam
Roadwarden costs currently only 5.50 dollars on Steam, is reduced by half. In the game you embody the eponymous Roadwarden, a kind of law enforcement officer who ensures law and order on a fantasy peninsula. It sounds extremely generic, but the game tells an incredibly complex and winding story full of intrigues, threats, twists and decisions.
Roadwarden is not just an adventure, you have to keep an eye on your character’s values, for example even personal hygiene, because just like in real life, people react differently to you if you stink like a European polecat. Of course, you have to have the will to do some mental cinema, but especially in winter, Roadwarden is a joy to munch on with a cup of tea. This is also confirmed by the 95 percent positive reviews on Steam.
Such text role-playing games have experienced a small but fine renaissance in recent years. In 2021, for example, the one that was also highly recommended was published The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante, which also has 91 percent positive reviews. You can also find both games on GOG as an alternative to Steam, although Roadwarden’s discount is a little smaller there (you pay just under 7 dollars).
So if you have a bit of time and/or got a taste for old school experiences after Baldur’s Gate 3, then please give the game a chance and tell us if you had fun with it.
