Roadmap

🔧 OPTIONAL DEPTH THAT REWARDS CURIOSITY 🔧

• Love complex systems? Dive deep into cultural cooking, diplomatic crafting, and community building. Prefer story focus? Every system is optional—the main quest adapts to YOUR playstyle.

• 🎨 Craft politically significant artwork. Cook diplomatic fusion cuisine. Build infrastructure that reflects your values.

⚖️ NO GOOD VS EVIL—CHOOSE YOUR PHILOSOPHY ⚖️

• Tired of arbitrary morality systems? Merauders asks deeper questions: Do you embrace creative chaos, structured order, or dynamic balance? Every choice reflects your worldview.

• 🤔 Your morning routine shapes your destiny. Your cooking style influences politics. Everything matters.

🌱 A COMING-OF-AGE STORY THAT ACTUALLY GROWS UP 🌱

• Skip the chosen one tropes. Play as Aelin, a sheltered teenager discovering who they are in an unfamiliar world. Your identity emerges naturally through the choices YOU make.

• 💭 From "What should I have for breakfast?" to "How do I handle cultural conflict?"—grow up through genuine discovery.

About the Game

STORY

Coming of Age in an Unknown World

You've lived a quiet, protected life until everything changes. Suddenly thrust into a world of island communities, ancient mysteries, and cultural complexities you've never encountered, you must navigate relationships and challenges that will define who you become.

A World of Perspectives

Eight different island cultures offer radically different approaches to life's challenges. Some value individual creativity above all else. Others prioritize community harmony. Some embrace change; others treasure tradition. Some seek balance; others believe in decisive action. All of them have something to teach you—if you choose to listen.

Growing Tensions

Something is stirring beneath the surface of this seemingly peaceful lake community. Different groups are becoming more rigid in their thinking, conflicts are escalating, and some force seems to be feeding off the growing divisions. But what role will you play in the unfolding crisis? Peacemaker? Revolutionary? Bridge-builder? Something else entirely?

The Person You Become

Your story isn't predetermined. Will you become someone who brings people together or shakes up stagnant systems? Will you preserve traditions or forge new paths? Will you seek to understand everyone's perspective or stand firm in your own convictions? The teenager you are at the beginning is not the person you'll be at the end.

Every Journey Is Unique

• Face the same challenges as other players, but solve them your way

• Build relationships that matter to you, not what the story demands

• Discover mysteries through your own curiosity and choices

• Create outcomes that reflect who you choose to become

• Experience consequences you never saw coming

What kind of person will you discover you are?

OVERVIEW

Concept: A coming-of-age RPG where a sheltered teenager discovers who they are through the choices they make. Every decision—from how you wake up in the morning to how you handle conflict—shapes both your identity and the world around you in unexpected ways.

Genre: Story-Rich RPG / Life Simulation / Cultural Adventure

• Primary: Narrative-driven RPG with deep choice consequences

• Secondary: Community building, crafting, cultural exploration

• Unique Elements: Integrated language learning, philosophical growth system

Similar Games:

• Fable III (choices fundamentally change the world)

• Spiritfarer (meaningful relationships through daily interactions)

• Disco Elysium (personality emerges through dialogue choices)

• Stardew Valley (community building through personal investment)

• Outer Wilds (discovery-driven storytelling)

Setting & Art Style:

• Location: Scattered island communities on a vast, mysterious lake

• Aesthetic: Hand-painted fantasy with authentic cultural details

• Tone: Wonder and discovery with underlying tensions

• Cultures: Eight distinct peoples, each with their own way of seeing the world

Main Player Goals:

• Discover: Who you are when faced with an unfamiliar world

• Navigate: Complex relationships and conflicting values

• Choose: Your approach to problems, conflicts, and opportunities

• Grow: From sheltered teenager to... whatever you decide to become

SYSTEMS

Identity Through Choice

Your personality emerges naturally through play. Rush headfirst into problems or think them through? Embrace traditions or forge your own path? Seek harmony or shake things up? There are no "right" answers—only consequences that reflect who you choose to be.

Living Through Experience

• Daily Life: Cooking, crafting, and farming become expressions of your growing identity

• Cultural Learning: Master new skills and traditions... or deliberately break with them

• Economic Choices: Your trading style shapes entire island economies

• Relationship Building: Deep connections unlock new possibilities and perspectives

• Language Immersion: Learn to communicate in ways you never imagined

Communities That Remember

Every island reacts to who you're becoming. Help them grow in ways that reflect your values, challenge their assumptions, or find yourself changed by their perspectives. Communities evolve based on your presence—or absence.

Consequences That Matter

• No Takebacks: Live with your choices and see how they ripple outward

• Unexpected Outcomes: Solutions create new challenges; help in one area causes problems in another

• Personal Stakes: Your growth affects everyone around you

• Multiple Perspectives: Replay to see how different choices create entirely different people and communities

Discovery-Driven Story

• Uncover Mysteries: Through exploration, relationships, and personal growth

• Multiple Solutions: Approach every challenge your way—diplomatic, direct, creative, or stubborn

• Hidden Depths: The more you explore, the more questions arise

• Environmental Storytelling: The world reveals its secrets through what you choose to notice

TARGET AUDIENCE

Primary Audience: The Identity Seeker (Ages 15-30)

• Values: Personal growth, authentic choice, meaningful consequences

• Interests: Self-discovery, philosophy, cultural exploration

• Gaming Habits: Drawn to games that reflect and challenge their worldview

• Motivation: Wants to explore different ways of being through play

Secondary Audience: The Story Explorer (Ages 20-45)

• Values: Narrative depth, replayability, character-driven drama

• Interests: Psychology, sociology, human relationships

• Gaming Habits: Replays games to see how different choices create different stories

• Motivation: Wants to experience complex human dynamics and consequences

Tertiary Audience: The World Builder (Ages 18-50)

• Values: Community impact, long-term consequences, systems thinking

• Interests: Economics, politics, cultural anthropology

• Gaming Habits: Enjoys seeing how their actions reshape entire communities

• Motivation: Wants to create and influence living, reactive worlds

Niche Audience: The Cultural Learner (Ages 16-65)

• Values: Educational entertainment, authentic representation

• Interests: Language learning, cultural immersion, diversity appreciation

• Gaming Habits: Seeks games that broaden their understanding of different perspectives

• Motivation: Learn about other ways of living and thinking through experience

Appeal Across Platforms:

• PC/Steam: Full experience with deep customization options

• Console: Perfect for thoughtful, living room discussions about choices

• Mobile: Intimate personal growth experience for private reflection

Accessibility Commitment:

• Visual: High contrast options, scalable text, comprehensive subtitle system

• Audio: Full voice acting, important audio cues have visual alternatives

• Cognitive: Adjustable complexity, clear choice consequences, no time pressure

• Physical: Fully customizable controls, pausable at any time

Content Rating: T for Teen

• Themes: Identity exploration, cultural conflict, philosophical growth

• Content: Thoughtful approach to complex issues, no graphic content

• Educational Value: Cultural understanding, critical thinking, personal reflection

"Every choice ripples across the water. What wake will you leave behind?"

Coming 2026 to Windows and Linux