Dene Carter, one of the original developers and designers behind Fable and Dungeon Keeper has built an entirely new roguelike RPG game and released it for free on Steam. Inspired by the PC classic Ultima, the whole game is available for free right now on Valve’s storefront, combining dark fantasy, turn-based combat, and retro-influenced mechanics with a distinctive visual style.
If you don’t know Dene Carter’s name, you definitely know their work. From Dungeon Keeper to Syndicate Wars, Populous to Fable, Carter has designed, developed, and co-created some of the defining PC games of the last 30 years. Working alongside Peter Molyneux at Bullfrog and later Lionhead, Carter helped create the original Fable, Fable 2, and Fable 3. Now the legendary game-maker brings us Moonring, an RPG game with roguelike elements that you can get right this second as a free Steam game.
A hand-crafted open world. Dungeons that rearrange, reconfigure, and change every time you leave them or die. 100 enemy types. A full 50-song soundtrack. Moonring might be the biggest gift of 2023. Following the tile-based style of Ultima, it casts you as a ‘Dreamless,’ exploring the mythical world of Caldera after it was plunged into darkness.
“I’ve loved RPGs since the early 1980s, and grew up playing games like Lord British’s Ultima series and early roguelikes,” Carter says. “This is my love letter to a style of gaming that has largely fallen out of fashion, with its vivid, bright sprites overlaid on stark black backgrounds, true open-world gameplay, and lack of handholding.
“The days I spent playing these games were spent in joyful exploration and discovery, venturing into the dark unknown, a co-author of the experience, filling in the gaps left by the primitive art with my imagination. For those of you who did the same, I hope Moonring recaptures some of the spirit of those days for you.”
Already rated ‘very positive’ on Steam after more than 100 player reviews, you can get Moonring for the low price of $0 right here.
Alternatively, try some of the other best old games, if you miss the classic era of the RPG. You might also want to try some of the greatest roguelikes in the world right now.