Bioshock’s lead designer is making an elven real-time tactics game that looks like a painting and reminds me of Myth

Stray Kit Studios, a studio that includes former developers of Age Of Empires, Borderlands and Bioshock, have revealed Wartorn, a real-time tactics roguelite in which two elven sisters pit spells and minions against a brace of fantasy opponents, including ogres. It’s a smaller-scale, squad-managerial affair reminiscent of the ancient Myth: Fallen Lords, though the “painterly” art direction reminds me more of the impressionistic World War 1 fable 11-11: Memories Retold.

I come and go with “painterly” art direction in video games. Often, it just feels like an upmarket way of saying “looks a bit smudged”, and smudginess isn’t generally desirable in a game where you give soldiers waypoints. But Wartorn (not to be confused with venerable RTS WarTorn) does look rather lovely, and the scenically concussed presentation seems to complement the ebb and flow of the game’s elemental combos, environment destruction and physics interactions. Still, there’s a slow-time mechanic if you feel overwhelmed. Here’s a trailer.

I also like that Wartorn sounds quite story-driven, though I’m less enthused by the on-the-nose talk of moral choices. “Set in a fantasy realm torn apart by extremism and the unraveling of ancient bonds, Wartorn follows an extended family as they fight to reunite and survive,” explains the press release. “Players will make tough decisions, from choosing who gets fed to deciding which lives can be saved, all while confronting the moral quandaries of violence and sacrifice.”

As for the roguelite progression stuff – they’re calling it “unique”, but I don’t really see how, based on the press release and trailer. Apparently it “rewards players for perseverance, offering heirlooms, hero upgrades, and new abilities that carry forward with each run”, which sounds like business as usual for a liker or liter of rogues.

To give you a sense of the pedigree, Stray Kite’s co-founder and chief creative officer is Paul Hellquist, former Bioshock lead designer and creative director on Borderlands 2. Co-founder and technical director Shovaen Patel was lead programmer for sparky tower defender Orcs Must Die and Age Of Empires Online – a defunct MMO which somebody called Brendan Caldwell rather liked, an unreasonably long time ago. The studio have previously worked on projects for other companies, including Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep – which I myself reviewed for Edge and found pretty unexciting – and Fortnite. Wartorn is their very first original project.

Did you play Myth: The Fallen Lords? It was one of Bungie’s old joints, before they got into man-shooting. I remember being obsessed with the units who could dual-wield and being sad when I got them all killed. Hopefully, I’ll be a better custodian for Wartorn’s elf sisters. They seem pretty capable. Wartorn launches into early access in spring 2025 on Steam and the Epic Game Store (EGS storepage link to follow, once it’s live).