Blizzard founder and former CEO Mike Morhaime of publishing company Dreamhaven recently announced a new game that combines elements of tabletop RPGs and party games like Jackbox. The Sunderfolk it looks like a casual take on something Gloomhaven.
The title is “designed for gamers who love tabletop, board and video games.” It’s a dual-screen experience, with players controlling many aspects of the game on their smartphone. You know, like the hugely popular Jackbox franchise. The “tactical couch co-op RPG” is advertised as a way for seasoned tabletop gamers to introduce the genre to their inexperienced friends.
The Sunderfolk it can be played by up to four players at once and there are six hero classes, such as bard, arcanist, ranger and the usual suspects. The TV is the big screen and the phone acts as a controller as people move around the game board. The story follows a town in crisis as it is attacked by various monsters. In other words, a typical fantasy RPG.
The unique control system seems to remove some of the barriers to entry for this type of game, such as a steep learning curve and long setup time. Like most tabletop RPGs, it is cooperative in nature and not competitive. You and your friends against the world.
Although the designer says The Sunderfolk made with co-op in mind, there will be online play. The game is being released for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S sometime in 2025, with a compatible iOS/Android app.
Kotaku got to try the game during a preview event and came away very impressed, saying that “working together with other players quickly turned into a fun spectacle that felt like a TTRPG game night.” However, the site also said that the complexity of the gameplay may fail to attract newcomers. In other words, it’s more Gloomhaven than Jackbox.
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