Cute Knight DELUXE Available from Rampant Games
Cute Knight Deluxe is now available from Rampant Games! And the free demo of Cute Knight Deluxe is now available as well.

This is the new and improved version of the best-selling "casual" indie RPG, Cute Knight. The new version includes new items and secrets, improved graphics (particularly the monster and end-game art), and an improved Wizard's Challenge mini-game. (Incidentally, the mini-game is actually something Georgina - the game's creator - mentioned in her interview here at Tales of the Rampant Coyote, as a part of the game she was unsatisfied with.)

If you haven't heard the spiel before, let me get my indie-game-evangelizing hat on for a minute. The original version of Cute Knight was the winner of 2005's Indie RPG of the Year from GameTunnel.com. It is kind of a blend of old-school pseudo-3D dungeon crawlers (think Wizardry, Bard's Tale, etc.) meeting the Princess Maker series - and done casual-friendly.
In Cute Knight, you play a young, 18-year old girl who has three years to decide what she's going to do with her life in a world of fantasy, monsters, and magic. Throughout town, there are several "sim" like opportunities for her to explore. She can take odd jobs to earn cash, attend school (assuming she has enough money to pay for the classes), participate in the various festivals and other events taking place in the town over the course of the year, unravel secrets and mysteries, find love, and of course gear up and explore the local dungeon.

The dungeon is an optional but significant part of the game. It is randomized, so the layout is a little different every game. The monsters can be defeated by magic or by combat (it is best to be prepared with both, as some monsters are more vulnerable to one than the other), or can actually be "tamed" by your charm and skill - defeated completely nonviolently.

Besides the usual challenges of "leveling up," and accumulating wealth and cool loot, there are two serious factors to contend with. The first is the looming end-of-game.

The game ends one of three ways. The first is by achieving some kind of end-game goal... one of the "winning" or "losing" criteria. There are over 50 different endings to the game (and not to mention several variants for most endings), so there are PLENTY of those to explore across multiple game sessions. The second is for your character to reach her 21st birthday - in which case she will adopt the profession most suited to her combination of skills. The third is by the loss of her "dream" - a measure of her happiness with life and feeling of growth, I guess. Too many failures and disappointing days of meaningless labor will sap her Dream rating in a hurry, and she'll end up choosing a life of a scullery maid. Give her some successes or nights out on the town (or in quiet meditation at the church, IIRC), and that rating will go back to non-threatening levels.

The second factor is "Sin." This is sort of the alignment system of the game. The town is protected from the nasties of the dungeon by a magical barrier that prevents evil creatures (those with too much sin) from entering. That includes people with too much of the stain of sin on their souls, as well. In fact, that can include you if you aren't careful. At that point, you'll be forced to stay in the outskirts of the city until you clean up your act, or reach a game conclusion. Note that there are several endings that require you to have been in this situation (at least briefly), so this is actually be part of the fun. I still want to get the "Queen of Thieves" ending that I've heard about!

Cute Knight is an awesome little non-traditional RPG. The deluxe edition adds some higher-quality art in several areas (particularly the end-game portraits and dungeon monsters),and several new toys to play with. And I have heard rumors of at least one additional ending. I haven't tried the revised Wizard's Challenge, yet. But the core gameplay is the unchanged - just as solid and as enjoyable as the original.

If you still haven't tried it out, I recommend downloading the free demo for Cute Knight Deluxe at the Rampant Games Cute Knight page.

If you have already purchased Cute Knight from Rampant Games, you can upgrade to the Deluxe edition for only $5, simply by following the instructions found on this page (and yes, I've been told that affiliates do count for this offer...)


(Vaguely) related Knight Cuteness:
* Cute Knight Hints, Tips, and Spoilers
* The Purple-Haired Women of Rampant Games!
* What Makes a Good Casual RPG?
* Interview with Georgina Bensley, Creator of Cute Knight
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Labels: Cute Knight, Game Announcements, Indie Evangelism, Indie RPG News, Roleplaying Games

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 5:00 AM (Permalink)