I wondered what The Banner Saga devs were up to: turns out it's Towerborne, a co-op action adventure where you live in a big windmill

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Everyone lives in a giant windmill but apparently that's a bad thing.

It's been a long time since the final instalment of The Banner Saga released back in 2018, and I, for one, sometimes find myself pondering what Stoic have been working on all this time. Turns out it's Towerborne, a co-op party-based adventure that looks in a somewhat similar vein to For the King. You and a group of friends form a party and fight to resettle a post-apocalyptic fantasy world.

You see, things are bad in Towerborne, and humanity has been driven to the edge of extinction, presumably by the colourful array of monsters the trailer shows getting smacked around. This sorry state of affairs has led everyone to live in a giant windmill called the Belfry—apparently this was the only way to survive, but I have questions. This lofty structure seems to serve as your base of sorts as you set out to reclaim lost territory and discover why the world's gone bad.

There's not all that much to go on right now, but from the looks of it, Towerborne is broken up into two main parts. You plan your adventures via a hex-based overworld from the Belfry, and fight side-scrolling battles with your party through a variety of verdant and colourful fields, forests, and caves. There are goblins, wolves, and mushroom men, plus it looks like there's a range of classes, too, from your typical hammer-wielding warrior to a mage burning a monster's face off with a flamethrowing staff.

(Image credit: Stoic)

Towerborne also boasts "an ever-changing world", which presumably means we can expect randomly generated encounters and a hex-based overworld that's different with each run or as you start a new game. Either way, as someone who loved The Banner Saga, it's exciting to know that Stoic have another game in the works, even if it is a little different. Plus after enjoying For the King, I'm curious to see how a similar formula might work with side scrolling combat instead of turn-based.

Towerborne is set to launch in 2024 and you can see the official website for more details.

Sean Martin
Sean Martin
Senior Guides Writer

Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.

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