By Joris Dormans (February, 2026)
This is a blog about our development of Bane: Dawn of the Lost. A generative, turn-based, sandbox RPG, with snappy, bite-sized adventures for you to enjoy alone or with a group of friends online.
For the last year and a half, Karel Millenaar and I have been working hard to get the demo for our new game Bane: Dawn of the Lost shipshape. Now it is out on Steam I think it is about time to say a few things about our vision for the game.
Bane is very much inspired by modern tabletop roleplaying games in the 'OSR' bubble. Meaning that we want the game to be lean and open. Progress is mostly tied to treasures you uncover, not enemies you defeat. There are many things you can do to get past obstacles, and sometimes you simply can't. Balance is not the main concern of the level generator behind the adventures. So sometimes you'll run into something that is very dangerous and as there is no intrinsic reward in defeating a mighty monster, it is often best to find a different way to deal with them.
Exploration and environmental challenges are an equal, if not bigger, part of the core gameplay.
With this design we are stepping away from the Zelda inspired design philosophy of Unexplored 2 and Unexplored 1 in particular. It is no longer all about the lock and key mechanics. Rather, it is about you making good use of the affordances offered by your characters and the environment to improvise and hack your way through a dungeon. In a sense we are taking a risk here. Videogame players seem to expect a balanced experience where it is possible to overcome every obstacle. We are not exactly offering that.
When combat starts, the game goes into a special mode that enforces group initiative.
Bane is a turn-based game. This means that there is no skill needed to control the characters. Instead the engagement is tactical and strategic. However, sometimes in traditional, turn-based computer RPGs the strategy is simply to grind until your characters are so powerful, strategy and tactics do not matter. When I talk about this problem with my students I often show them Progress Quest, a 'game' that critically reflects on this by automating the entire process to the point you only have to watch the numbers in an elaborate spreadsheet going up.
In this context I usually also mention Shigeru Miyamoto's observation that he dislikes RPGs because it is solely the character's stat that progresses where in his designs (Zelda) he aims to have the player's skill improve over time. Now with all the work and research I have been doing for Bane I think I finally can formulate a riposte to that justified critique on the genre of games that I love. And it comes in the form of the OSR 'adagium': "The answer is not on your character sheet"; meaning that what you should be doing is not limited to the stats and abilities on your character sheet. Rather you should look for smart solutions based on your current context, and the ability to spot opportunities like that certainly is a skill you can improve while playing.
Bane still has a long way to go. The contextual opportunities we offer are not as rich and as expressive as we want them to be. But I have good confidence we will get there in time.
You plan your adventures in the inn.
Contact: info@ludomotion.com