Spry Fox, a Seattle based independent developer specializing in mobile and browser-based games such as the turn based strategy game Steambirds and the massively multiplayer cooperative shooter Realm of the Mad God, has announced the release of their newest title, Road Not Taken. Spry Fox’s newest game is described as a “roguelike puzzle game about surviving life’s surprises” and features a dynamically generated world that evolves with the player’s actions throughout the course of the game.
Road Not Taken is set in a small village hidden deep within an immense, mysterious forest. Each year the forest has claimed the lives of several village children who wander into it during the freezing winter, never to be seen again. The player takes the role of an unnamed ranger who takes it upon himself to brave the dangers of the forest in order to rescue them. However, Road Not Taken is unique in that it allows the player to choose any number of dynamically generated paths containing a variety of hostile creatures, puzzles, and natural hazards. During any given year some of the paths may lead to success while others may become merely dead ends due to changes in the landscape. If players find a particular year’s winter too difficult, they may choose to simply wait it out and accept the loss of that year’s children. Whichever actions they choose will slowly shape the village over the course of years as the children they’ve saved, or failed to, alter the course of the game’s story.
Road Not Taken is available now on PC and Mac via Steam for $12 until August 12, 2014, after which it will be sold at $15 per copy. Residents of North America can also purchase the game on the Playstation 4 through the Playstation Network, while other regions will have Playstation sales open up over the course of the next week. Playstation+ subscribers are able to download Road Not Taken free of charge until the end of August. Spry Fox has announced plans to bring the game to the Playstation Vita as well, although the handheld version of the game has been delayed indefinitely due to technical issues.
If you’re interested in learning more about Road Not Taken, you can watch the game’s official launch trailer below or on YouTube.