What comes to mind when I say: Deconstructed survival grand strategy city builder roguelike with Permadeath? Well, probably not much yet, but that's how I'd describe Venture Archipelago.
Why Archipelago?
The world is 5 small islands. Each island has a different biome, with different challenges. You have these islands to choose from to settle your village, and if you survive, maybe even kingdom.
What's a Venture?
The word “Venture” in the title comes from the primary method of gathering resources in the game, which are ventures. You spend money and/or resources to create a venture (which could be things like a logging camp, or adventuring group, or farm etc) and steadily accrue resources from all of your ventures.
Is there combat?
Yes! It has random encounters that are fought on the normal world map. Being that it's a roguelike, enemies only move (and time only passes) when you take an action. 1 to 3 enemies will spawn near you, with varying AI, and will attack mercilessly. Attacks (both yours and enemies) are represented as white squares, and will still show up on the map even if it hits nothing. More details of this will be revealed as it is created.
So it's an RPG?
Kind of, but with a hefty focus on unique game mechanics. The story is not what we're here for. Player character development and customization through gear and leveling will scratch that RPG itch though.
Buildable Villages and Cities, both player owned and not, that need resources to survive. At its core, Venture Archipelago is a survival game, but its your towns that depend on you to lead them to prosperity by providing enough resources, and building the type(s) of land they need.
(I did set the default gold to 69, but I did not set the time manually or intentionally wait for the photo op. That's a genuine coincidence.)
Laws, Taxes, and Land Use
Cities will be split up into multiple districts. You can customize the laws and tax rates of each district and each surrounding village from here. Each village/district has a modular population, and how the land is used is kept track of. Undeveloped Land can be changed to Housing, Markets, Artisans, or Amenities, and the player will earn rent from the land they purchase.
Start from nothing and fight, buy, and sell your way into the ranks of the nobility, or burn the very concept to the ground!
There's a whole lot more than that, and I'll post about it as I make it. Thanks for reading, I hope you'll join me on this Venture!
