Planned Release Date: 2027

About This Game

Prepare for the horriblest, most intricate simulation of fantasy travel that has ever been created (I think). 

• No Journey is the same! Adventure through a whole procedurally-generated & simulated world.

• There's a story to be told; survive over 100+  narrative events, ranging from party arguments to dragon encounters.

• Spill monster guts! Take on 100 monsters straight out of classic Fantasy tales, in brutal grueling turn-based combat.

• Losing is fun... Encounter many deadly diseases, injuries, and mental afflictions that can spiral into demise.

• Adventurers a Dozen; generate thousands of combinations of fantasy races, classes, stats & personality quirks.

• Keep your Party Alive; manage your party’s health, morale, hunger, warmth, hygiene, and sanity.. and don't die!

• Get Dysentery; well try not to get it... but you can get it if you want...

Who's friend my Dysentery? No, you read it wrong. It's "Who's my friend, Dysentery?". Who is he anyway? You'll have to play the game to find out... you'll get very friendly with Dysentery! But here's a quick summary:

My Friend, Dysentery is a darkly comedic, fantasy reimagining of The Oregon Trail that trades settlers for a ragtag adventuring party and buffalo hunting for turn-based dragon battles. Which answers the question: "How hard would fantasy travel be?"

It's a "horribly realistic fantasy travel simulator," which challenges you to shepherd a group of adventurers to a faraway land to kill a big, fat, evil red dragon. You must trudge through a very brutal, procedurally generated world where your survival will heavily depend on how well you manage resources, handle difficult text-based choices, but also your luck with high-stakes dice rolls.

Every mile will test your judgment. Supplies will dwindle. Diseases will spread. Accidents will happen. Hunger and despair will stalk your party at every turn.  Death will ever follow you closely behind. You will face a relentless barrage of ailments, from hypothermia and starvation to cannibalism and, of course, dysentery. It very much leans into the chaos of a tabletop RPG with a maybe slightly too evil GM.

The one thing this game will teach you:

Adventuring is not a grand tale of heroic triumph, like seen in films and read in books.

Adventuring is cold. It's brutal. And it's often absurdly unforgiving. 

In a post-apocalyptic fantasy world where much of the land has been reclaimed by a magical wilderness. You set forth from the last city of men and mer: Talan. The king of Talan invoked an grand exodus to Faerland, a prospective land far east in hopes to settle there. It is said that these lands are not only bountiful, but contain the last known species of dragons. The hide of such dragons a strong arcane medium. These lands could promise more than homestead, but riches and magical innovation.

Under the King’s decree countless souls take the perilous path toward Faerland; a so-called "Promised Land"; in search of a better life. Thus begins The Great Race as it’s called, hundreds of hopeful adventurers, naïve, experienced, desperate and cunning; numerous races of men and brutes; scholars of magic and journeymen of the blade; all amass in the capital city of Talan. There we find your ragtag group of hopeful adventurers.

Your quest is different to the rest however. Your quest is to slay a mighty Red Dragon that dwells there before the great wizard Andrad, the one funding your adventure, turns to stone. 

To succeed, you must guide your ragtag band of adventurers across the merciless, ever-changing wilderness of the WYLD. This journey will undoubtedly lead to the ruin of your party.

But as the dwarves would say:

Embark for glory, the ruin of men & brew, or to dance in death's face!

Absurd Consequences

Fail a river crossing? You'll be lucky if you just lose supplies. Think being eaten by a kraken that was living in the river!

Human Fragility

Experience the punishing resource management of the original Oregon Trail with a ragtag and humanly fragile adventuring party, where a dragon is as likely to kill you as a common cold.

Procedural Misfortune

Every journey is a "tabletop RPG gone wrong". Procedural generation and random dice rolls ensure that no two runs are the same. You will have to constantly adapt to unpredictable crises like food spoilage, starvation, or cannibalism.

Grim Education

My Friend, Dysentery can be seen as a brutal teacher. Learn historically accurate (or hilariously inaccurate) survival lessons and methods. Maybe after a couple playthroughs, you too, could survive a trek in the wilderness (I hold no responsibility for your death)

Losing is Fun! Stories to be told!

Every failed journey is not the end. Those fallen live on in the story their journey made. And every mishap, misfortune, blunder and naive decision is a stepping stone for the next party. Anyways, losing is fun, right? 

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

This game contains depictions of fantasy violence, character death, disease, starvation, and other survival-related hardships presented in a dark comedic tone. You may encounter text and imagery involving illness, injury, executions, corpses, and accidental deaths during travel events and combat encounters. Alcohol use may be referenced or depicted.