Ringlands: The Lost Empire
An Epic 4X Game of Exploration, Discovery and Rivalry for 2–5 Players
The Ringlands have been sealed for a thousand years. Now the portals are open and rival Expeditions are pouring in, hunting the lost technology of the fallen Argathian Empire. Lead your Explorer and their Raiders across five elemental lands, survive branching Adventures, duel your rivals with a fistful of custom dice, and claim the Great Achievements that make you the most famous Explorer in the realm.
"Its like Raiders of the Lost Ark in space!"
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- Bryce Brown. Castillo Games
Video Introduction to Ringlands
Game Status
Ringlands is still currently Under Development. Sign up to receive email updates on our publishing plans.
Full Disclosure About Prototype Artwork: We utilize AI art during the prototyping phase of development both for immersion testing and assisting in developing art direction. We fully intend to utilize human designed artwork for all key game elements in the production version.
What is Ringlands?
Summary
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Players: 2-5
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Ages: 14+
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Play Time: 90 - 120 minutes
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Difficulty: Easy, Standard or Epic
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Type: Competitive adventure, exploration and area control with dice-driven challenges
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Player Connection App: Free with the game
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The Argathian Empire is gone, but it's treasures are not.
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For thousands of years the Ringlands have sat silent — five vast lands ringed around a floating Citadel Isle, abandoned since the fall of the greatest civilization this world has known. The Argathians harnessed five mystic elements to power weapons, flying machines, healing arts and portals between dimensions. Then they vanished, and took the knowing of it with them.
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Now the way is open. You lead an Expedition — one Explorer and up to four hired Raiders — into a world that no living person has mapped. So do your rivals, and they want exactly what you want.
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Every round the Citadel Isle rotates. Its portals swing into alignment and snap shut again, redrawing the fastest route across the map while you're still standing on it. Elements spawn in the wild for you to mine and spend. World Events sweep the Ringlands every other round. Rift Denizens stalk out of the tears between worlds, and something has to deal with them.
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Your Explorer alone can walk into an Adventure territory and draw a card — a branching story where you pick a path, then a choice within it, and roll to see whether the ruin gives up an Ancient Artifact, a Legendary Relic, or a scar you carry into the next round. Your Raiders can't adventure, but they can do what Explorers shouldn't: raid a rival's Field Camp, or lay siege to an Ancient Site they worked three rounds to claim.
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Every discovery, every claimed Site, every successful raid and every Adventure survived earns Fame. Enough Fame in one direction earns a Great Achievement — and those are first-come, first-served and permanent. Be the first Expedition to claim five of the ten, and you trigger the Final Round. When the dust settles, the most famous Explorer in the Ringlands wins.
Watch Ringlands Game Videos!
Check Out Ringlands Photos!
Some great images of the game for your enjoyment.
What's the story with Ringlands?
I designed Ringlands over 20 years ago.
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It was my first real effort to design an epic game - long before there were 4X strategy games like there are today.
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I even designed it with a computer based companion app in mind. But the technology just wasn't there yet to make that practical, or fun really.
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I've probably put 1000's of hours into this game, and I can't say how much it means to me to finally have the technology and capabilities to really put it together as I had envisioned so long ago.
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The original board here was mostly drawn in Photoshop. Obviously, 20+ years in the closet hasn't done this board any favors, but it's still cool to look at.
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Most of the major systems were already in place, but about a year ago I finally pulled the dust off the game and started to get to work.​
I've still not seen a concept quite like this one - with players competing as Expeditions, each hiring and managing their own party of raiders, all while facing the perils of an alien landscape that seeks to destroy them all.
Now that I can work with amazing new app technology, I've been able to connect the world and the players like never before possible. It's not than "the app drives the game", the idea is "the app connects the players to the game and eachother".
I look forward to bringing this game to the crowdfunding stage. It's going to be quite a ride!
