Lands of the Ancient Lords: A 'Soulsborne' Celebration

👋 Hi there! Welcome to the latest edition of SUPERJUMP Weekly. This week, we're delving into the worlds of the Soulsborne games - from Demon's Souls and Dark Souls to Bloodborne and Elden Ring. In this issue, we also showcase the works of Leah Isobel and feature Citadelum in our latest On the Radar update.

We hope you enjoy this issue. Please consider becoming a Backer if you would like to support our unique brand of independent games journalism. Thank you.

IN THIS ISSUE

✍️ Story Showcase: Soulsborne Games
⭐ Author Showcase: Leah Isobel
📡 On the Radar: Citadelum
📅 This Week on SJP
🏆 Backers

City builders and strategy games have been some of the most consistently successful titles in recent years, but they're not easy to make. Now, Abylight is making an ambitious attempt to wed the two genres with their ambitious Roman-themed strategy game Citadelum.

Citadelum takes place in a Classical-inspired world in which the Olympian gods are real and walk among the mortals. The goal is to expand from a city-state into an empire while staying on the good side of the divine. This begins by developing the player's city - gathering resources, constructing buildings, training soldiers, and currying favors with the gods.

Once the player is ready to expand, gameplay shifts to an overworld map with a 4X design. The player has access to the usual diplomatic options one would expect from a Civilization-style game: Trade, alliances and conquest. When combat starts, whether it's a skirmish with a barbarian tribe or full-fledged warfare against a rival empire, gameplay shifts to a third layer with auto-battler elements.

The developer suggests that there will be a narrative element as well, one based primarily on relations between mortals and Olympus. Greco-Roman gods are a capricious, self-centered lot, and there may end up being more to gaining favor than simply building temples and making offerings. Gaining the favor of one may mean incurring the wrath of another, and conflicts between empires may be driven by divine allegiance as much as by plunder.

Citadelum will launch in 2024.

💻 Created by Abylight Barcelona
✍️ Andrew Johnston

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