The Dark Tower: A Fan-Made Retro RPG

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

This is the on-going fan-made RPG adaptation of Stephen King's epic novel series, The Dark Tower, designed in the classic/retro style of the 16-bit SNES Final Fantasy games. You play as Roland, the last gunslinger of Mid-World, pursuing the mysterious Man in Black and questing for The Dark Tower, in hopes of restoring his dying world. With a soundtrack by Tom Waits that alternates between exotic, quirky and unsettling, this is the game adaptation of King's magnum opus we've been waiting decades for.

This release is Demo 3.1, and contains the first three books of the series: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of The Three and The Wastelands; each consecutive demo release will add the next book in the series, until the final release containing all seven books. Demo 4.0 will drop in approximately nine months.

Being a fan-made release, this game is FREE.

This game is rated T for Teen because of course language, adult situations and violence (it's based on a Stephen King book series, so what did you expect?).

SYNOPSIS: The main character Roland is the last Gunslinger-- a type of knight-- in a sort of post-apocalyptic mirror-image version of our world (think Tolkien mixed with Spaghetti Westerns, topped with a dose of Mad Max). His quest is to find The Dark Tower, which is like a central hub that joins multiple dimensions and parallel universes. The game begins as The Gunslinger is chasing his nemesis The Man in Black across a desert, a villain who The Gunslinger believes has the answers to where The Dark Tower is. Over the course of the game, The Gunslinger draws three people from our world to join him on the quest. This ka-tet (a group joined by fate) journeys through Mid-World to reach the Tower, and learn the real reason Roland's world (and others in the multiverse) are rotting from the inside out.

GAME PLAY: As aforementioned, the mechanics and game play is meant to be reminiscent of Final Fantasy 4, 5 or 6 -- ATB, side battler. Much like FF4, you primarily are Roland the Gunslinger, and party members join and leave, as dictated in the Stephen King novels. Because of the nature of the story, ammunition is required for weapons, and the scarcity of bullets is meant to be woven into the gameplay and strategy (as it is a major concern in the novels themselves). Roland is not a magic user, but various party members are. There are no specific class distinctions (aside from a Gunslinger, of course), but the recruited party members are unique and have their own backstories, which lends them to possess the special skills the characters can use in battle. One way it differs from the classic FF (and most other RPGs for that matter), is the game play is less focused on weapon and armor upgrades purchased in towns (or won in battle or found in chests), and more concerned with a wide variety of items found throughout the game used as power ups and effect-producers in battle. Don't expect the need to upgrade your sword at every town; instead, manage ammunition and collect items to be used in battle. On the other hand, experience levels are a key component and a little grinding is beneficial (although not necessary).

PLAYTIME: Approx 3-4 hours.