Factsheet

Developer:
Mantis-Eye Labs, LLC
(Mike Watson)
Based in New York City

Release Date:
January 16, 2018

Platforms:
Windows, Mac and Linux

Website:
realmoftheghostking.com

Regular Price:
$2.99

Inquiries:
press@mantiseyelabs.com

Twitter:
@mantiseyelabs

Description

Realm of the Ghost King is a quick-play roguelike where you must battle your way through eight randomly generated dungeons to defeat the Ghost King and become the new king of the realm.

The game incorporates many elements of a traditional roguelike while also simplifying the formula and allowing for shorter gameplay sessions.

History

Development of Realm of the Ghost King began in 2014 for the 7-Day Roguelike Challenge as a game called Ghost Roguelike. While a playable version was not submitted within those seven days, I enjoyed working on it so much and felt that it had enough potential that I spent an additional three years working on it.

The game is built mostly using custom Javascript and utilizes the Electron framework to make it a desktop app.

Features

• Turn-based, traditional roguelike, but simplified.

• Focused on short gameplay sessions. It should only take 20 minutes to beat the game.

• Twelve different monsters you can play as, each with unique strengths and weaknesses.

• Manage your resources, make decisions that impact your playthrough.

• Blow up the level, enemies and even yourself with bombs! Levels are fully destructable!

• Pixel art graphics and beep-boop sounds for a cool retro feel.

• Technically passes the Berlin Interpretation, I think?

Videos

Final Trailer (YouTube):

1.1.0 Free Update trailer (YouTube)

Launch trailer (YouTube)

Gameplay video (YouTube)

Announcement trailer (YouTube)

Logos

In-game logo (black):

Single line logo:

Awards & Recognition

The Best Of Unknown Pleasures, 2018

"The first roguelike of the year to overpower my dislike of the subgenre (or more precisely, the genre’s ubiquity and infection of otherwise good games), and one I’m most surprised to see so few people talking about. " — Sin Vega, Rock Paper Shotgun

Selected Articles

"The rules are simple, and the small scale coupled with the puzzle-y aspect lend an interesting, vaguely chess-like air. It’s arguably more like Rogue or Nethack than most in that regard, but with all the fiddly parts trimmed off." — Sin Vega, Rock Paper Shotgun

"All of this is incredibly accessible while also deeper and more tactical than it first appears." — Thomas Faust, IndieGames.com

"If you're new to the genre, or haven't been able to get a hang of these types of games, well this one is probably for you. ... I doubt you've heard of this but it really does warrant more people getting ahold of it." — Top 5 Best Indie Game Hidden Gems for May 2019, Get Indie Gaming

Request Press Copy

To request a press copy please email press@mantiseyelabs.com with your request. I'm also opted into Press Access on itch.io, so you should be able to grab a copy from the Realm of the Ghost King itch.io page if you're a partner there.

About Mantis-Eye Labs, LLC

Mantis-Eye Labs, LLC is an incredibly small and unsuccessful indie game studio. It's also just one person. That would be me, Mike Watson. Realm of the Ghost King is my first commercial game release! Mantis-Eye Labs, LLC was official formed in 2017 but it's always existed in my heart, if you really think about it.

Previously I've worked in or around the game industry doing web development but never working on the actual games.

Realm of the Ghost King Credits

Mike Watson
Design, Programming, Art, Audio

Josie Brechner (website)
Music (link to album)