Forge a medieval community with intelligent AI villagers. Gather resources and transform the village into a town, or simply listen to captivating stories from various simulated and evolving lives. All in a beautiful, relaxing, and immersive fantasy world.
All Reviews:
Positive (26) - 96% of the 26 user reviews for this game are positive.
Release Date:
Sep 14, 2023
Developer:
Publisher:

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Early Access Game

Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“As well as Early Access being a good opportunity to gather and incorporate feedback, it's also a great chance to provide extra revenue to hire a professional artist. At the moment, the team is comprised of a developer handling the art and programming, while there is a composer for the music. Whilst not required to finish the game, having extra resources to hire an additional person for the art would drastically help improve the visual quality and tremendously increase the amount of content which would be possible to include in the final version of the game.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“The game will be in Early Access for 1-2 years as the content and initial roadmap will be fully built out. However, the plan is to continue adding new features, and content for many years after that!”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“For the V1.0 release version, the biggest aim is to expand on the content for the game. The goal would be to especially focus on increasing the number of buildings, items, and related actions available to you and your villagers. Since the core of the game is centered around the AI, we would also like to continue expanding on additional and deeper functionality surrounding the villagers. Furthermore, during Early Access we'd really like to explore how merchants & markets would work, as well as the world-building side of things.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“- ~600 different dialogue phrases where (for most of these) each is dynamic and specific to the experiences and knowledge of the villager and your world state
- 147 different items
- 21 different buildings including a unique modular house building system with thousands of variations
- 3 biomes
- Procedurally-generated playable map
- AI: experiences, likes / dislikes, personalities, quests, stories, changes, villagers talking to each other, friendships, pleasure-based emotions, goals, family history, trading”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Throughout the Early Access period, the game will be discounted until it reaches its complete set of features and content, then it will increase to the full price.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“The feedback from play-testers and on social media posts has already hugely benefited the game in many places and has helped raise the quality of features significantly. The best place for this feedback has been in the Discord. There's also an opportunity to help shape the game by voting on any feature in the roadmap and through occasional polls which deep dive into a choice between a handful of features to decide what comes next.”
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About This Game

Heard of the Story? is a cosy medieval city-building simulation game with intelligent AI villagers who think, reason, and tell their own unique tales.

The game is about forging your own medieval town, community, and relationships with procedural characters that really feel alive, self-aware, and grounded in your world. Embark on an adventure with them to transform a few sticks and pebbles into a beautiful prospering town from the ground up. Alternatively, simple sit back and watch as your townsfolk discover their passions, spread rumours, or divulge captivating stories with you and between each other.

Explore the landscape to find and gather the resources you need in order to build your town. Craft your way up to an expert, perhaps you can be their blacksmith?

Develop a town organically by architecting your roads or structures without a grid. Beautify the surroundings with decorations whilst your villagers spice up their gardens.

Each building changes the life of your villagers one step at a time. Could the Lion & Crow be your friend's next favourite tavern? Or the Chiselled Bellows the smithy they discover themselves in?

Strengthen your reputation by constructing the right amenities, enough fields and accommodation, and entice foreigners to join - grow without a limit!

 Villagers are autonomous and independent. Apart from starting new construction projects, they can do anything you can. Each has their own interests, goals, achievements, needs, and traits.

Talk to villagers to discover their lore, (sometimes) get helpful advice, or learn about their conspiracy theories. Your learnings are jotted down in your journal as you uncover more.

 Each interaction they have with the world forms an experience which shapes their personality. Reveal how they changed and evolved through listening to their quirky stories.

Deepen the mutual bond by helping them with their troubles. Or don't, and tell them they look ugly instead - we won't judge! (but villagers may)

 Cooperate with your townsfolk as they help construct new buildings or trade with them to get the items you need.

Watch villagers specialise into different skilled crafts like carpentry or horticulture. Unlock your society's potential by making sure they have all the tools they need to prosper.

When your collective skills don't cut it, merchants and markets can assist you by bringing what you need - at a price. Be careful not to blow your savings on luxurious goods!

 Just like you, villagers can talk to each other, build their own relationships (or start their own beef), and make their own exchanges. As they pass on information, they form an emergent interconnected team.

 Each map is randomly generated making every playthrough even more unique. Whether you want to build in a valley or a flatland, in a forest or the mountains, the choice is yours!

 Find cute, scottish-highland inspired cows loitering around different corners and draw them into your barns to tame them.

 World details are also unique to each world, with each having its own regions, towns, family histories. Perhaps you’ll find your rival's sibling joining you as you expand the town.

 As time passes, the sun will rise, the stars will show, and the seasons will change. Witness colours and atmosphere shift around you as spring gradually gives way to winter.

Keep warm with a fireplace during winter, or find a colourful place to frolic amidst long grass and arrays of countless flowers during summer. This game is designed to be cosy and stress-free; there are no timed tasks, no harsh penalties, and no combat putting your town at risk. You can challenge yourself to grow a huge town, or play at your own pace and stick to a small cottagecore village, with a few friendly faces.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 10
    • Processor: Intel Core i5 or equivalent
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Storage: 2 GB available space
    Recommended:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system

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