Xenrathe
Erik Rollwage
United States
I'm a solo game developer, making an isometric turn-based RPG (See: Vandal Hearts, Final Fantasy Tactics).
I'm a solo game developer, making an isometric turn-based RPG (See: Vandal Hearts, Final Fantasy Tactics).
Currently Offline
Review Showcase
Tasty fare for the gaming gourmand. A solo-dev’s pixelated Lovecraftian love-letter. Dungeons of Dredmor, except as a crafted story-driven cRPG.

Cosmic horror is woven through every stitch. The pensive soundtrack evokes a quiet dread. The chunky pixelated graphics add a jagged mystique to the inhuman, grotesque storybook tableaus. And the script understands that cosmic horror thrives best in dreadful anticipation. Once we actually see the squid monsters, the swirls in the sky, the glowing fungi in the caves, the terror takes on a different tenor. What was unknowable is now known, captured within the safe boundaries of our own minds. Fundamentally, definitionally, cosmic horror cannot be shown.

So Skald has the superficial accoutrements of cosmic horror.  Cultists, giant squids, otherworldly telepathic fungi cracking apart ancient ruins. A lot of games have all that. More rarely, Skald captures that Lovecraftian ‘frame narrative’ feel by having us first encounter NPCs madly gibber about the horror. It builds the dread. Moreover, Skald skews to under-explanation, leaving the mystery cloaked in shadow, opening space for my own imagination.

As a a final game-design point, Skald embraces concision. Often, I’d enter a new area and feel that anticipatory fatigue... oh god, this dungeon is going to be 3 levels deep, labyrinthe, with 50 monster encounters and thirty treasure chests, mostly filled with vendor trash. It’s never like that. It’s always on point and paced to keep us moving. SKALD's solo-dev Anders Lauridsen clearly understands that brevity is the soul of wit.

I judge games on a unique and uncomprimising scale CSD (Character - Spectacle - Depth). I don't care about the average score, only that a game scores extremely highly in at least one. While SKALD's Depth is neither problematic nor inspired, the Character found within its story and Lovecraftian vibe achieves great heights. It’s rare to find Spectacle outside of AAA games, but I’d actually give SKALD some credit for some truly impressive storybook tableaus and narrative ambition.
Screenshot Showcase
System Shock
Favorite Game
184
Hours played
54
Achievements
Recent Activity
48 hrs on record
last played on 1 Aug
11.2 hrs on record
last played on 24 Jul
7.4 hrs on record
last played on 19 Jul
Comments
ilikebigbigrainbowpuffs 5 Jun, 2015 @ 2:57am 
i like pancakes
Inphamy 13 Jul, 2013 @ 4:34pm 
+rep, fast trade.
Kauldwin 13 Jul, 2013 @ 1:49pm 
Good trade +rep
Jojo 12 Jul, 2012 @ 1:56pm 
Mad badges bro. Also, Hunger Games movie was terrible.