I’m down for fisticuffs more often than
not, but there are moments when I just
want to explore and take it all in.
Thankfully, Might and Delight has come
to my rescue with Book of Travels, an
upcoming RPG that embraces this
wanderer philosophy.
Self-described as a “collaborative
and friendly roleplaying experience”,
there are no linear quests or nagging
plotlines. Players are free to explore
the handcrafted world of Braided Shore
at their own pace. Might and Delight
describes it as a TMO, a ‘tiny multiplayer
online’ game, with a focus on exploration
and companionship, two themes that
the studio is more than familiar with.
“Making the Shelter games taught us
how to evoke strong emotions and how
to make simple things matter,” Might
and Delight’s art director, Jakob Tuchten
explains. “We felt we had stumbled upon
many unique and interesting multiplayer
mechanics that seemed to make people
interact and roleplay in really friendly and
creative ways, mechanics we wanted to
develop further.”
Book of Travels will be Might and
Delight’s first Early Access title, and after
a successful Kickstarter with 7,000
backers, the team is more than eager
to get the community involved in the
development process.
“We see ourselves a bit like a dungeon
master,” Tuchten explains. “We want to
emulate what the community wants,
taking into account what secrets they
like, the direction of the game, and which
storylines they react to. We want to tailor
the game’s future to both match that and
to also challenge perceptions people
have in the game.”PAGE TURNER
Book of Travels is definitely challenging
perceptions. Might and Delight has been
more than happy to celebrate that Book of
Travels is not your traditional MMORPG.
Many of the story beats that guide the
player through a fantasy world have been
set aside. With no overarching goal, no
real beginning or end, you are the one in
charge of shaping your own journey.
“Our world is serene,” Tuchten says.
“It’s not plagued by an evil monster or a
bad king. It doesn’t have that cliché dark
fantasy storyline where everything is
about to go to hell, and you’re the focal
point of trying to set it right.”
But just because Book of Travels’ world
has a peaceful cadence, it doesn’t mean
Might and Delight has scrapped all means
of conflict. Tuchten explains how entering
a fight with monsters is a serious event
with consequences. The team’s still
deciding the exact mechanics, but
promise that encounters will often be
traumatic and have an emotional
aftermath – not something to take lightly.
“We have the opportunity to actually
do combat that is meaningful,” Tuchten
explains. “When it happens, it involves
risk and has a dramatic impact on your
character. We debated for a long time
whether combat should be a part of the
world at all, but we want to convey the
serenity or the calmness of the world, and
that needed to be accentuated by having
a danger just outside of the road.”
Roads wind between important
locations, but every wanderer knows what
lies off the beaten path is worth
discovering too, even if danger lies in the
wilds. Luckily you’ll have plenty of skills
and abilities to help you explore, and
just like combat, Might and Delight hasI
love playing the role of the wanderer in
games, but it’s pretty difficult to explore
virtual worlds without some bloodthirsty
monster trying to kill me. It is too much
to ask to quietly traverse The Witcher 3’s Novigrad,
collecting herbs and picking plants, without a
ferocious wolf trying to gnaw my arm off?
Adventure in a world where
you’re not forced to be the hero
BOOK OF TRAVELS
ENTERING A FIGHT WITH
MONSTERS IS A SERIOUS
EVENT WITH CONSEQUENCESRELEASE
TBC
DEVELOPER
Might and DelightPUBLISHER
In-houseLINK
mightanddelight.comNEED TO KNOW
FIRST
LOOKPREVIEW
Book of Travels