Mixing standard RPG mechanics with a ‘90s era operating system, Kingsway is a game that likens dungeon crawling to office work. With monster encounters appearing as pop-ups and new quests coming in the form of emails, this perplexing RPG is what Windows 98 would look like if it was designed by Gary Gygax.
If you’re one for going on epic quests, best check out these PC RPGs.
All the elements of a ’90s era PC GUI have been given an RPG twist in Kingsway, with your Internet browser acting as your world map, your backpack being hidden within your computer’s file folders and fetch quests coming up as spam emails in your “Quests” program. You’ll have to juggle your inventory and health between multiple windows, with players being able to set out their desktop in any way they like to help aid their daily questing.
You can set up desktop shortcuts to quickly check your bag or your equipment, while progress bars will appear on screen to track your movement on the world map. While moving from place to place, enemies will appear on the screen as pop-ups, forcing you to stop what you’re doing to kill a skeleton or vanquish a bandit. Much like old pop up windows, they will float around your screen and irritate you until you win the fight. I also expect you’ll get pop-ups for dodgy magic wand sellers and sexy swordsmiths in your area.
The Kingsway operating system even has its own music player and settings menu, meaning you can blast some tunes while you’re doing the fantasy equivalent of data entry. Dying in Kingsway is permanent, so you’ll have to watch your computer go through a factory reset whenever you get killed by a monster. There will no doubt be the equivalent of viruses in Kingsway, with a poisoned character resulting in your screen glitching out or something to that effect. Don’t go opening random gold pouches from shady looking quest givers.
Kingsway’s premise is certainly intriguing, scratching both the nostalgia and RPG itch. For those looking to download an new operating system, Kingsway will launch on Steam sometime this summer.