If you’re a fan of the brutal, choice-heavy worlds created by Iron Tower Studio, you might want to sit down for this. The team behind The Age of Decadence and Colony Ship recently dropped a massive design update about their next big venture: Heralds of the Third Apocalypse.
Forget the sci-fi corridors of a generation ship or the crumbling ruins of a post-Roman wasteland. Iron Tower is heading into a Bronze Age world dripping with Lovecraftian horror. It’s a pivot that feels both fresh and perfectly aligned with their “tough-as-nails” reputation.
A New World of Eldritch Terror
This isn’t your typical high-fantasy setting. The world of Heralds of the Third Apocalypse is inspired by the ancient Bronze Age, populated by humans, non-human races, and—true to the Lovecraftian theme—ancient eldritch abominations that probably shouldn’t be disturbed.
Unlike their previous titles, which often focused on a single protagonist navigating a web of intrigue, this project takes a page out of the Battle Brothers playbook. Your “character” is actually a mercenary company. As long as one merc is left standing, the dream (and the game) stays alive. You’ll be managing a group of six characters, recruiting new blood when the old ones inevitably meet a messy end.
Combat with a Familiar Sting
If you’ve played The Age of Decadence, you know that combat is a high-stakes puzzle where one wrong move means death. The developers are bringing that turn-based tactical DNA into this new project, but they’re moving it onto a hexagonal grid.
The system is built on Action Points (AP), but with some clever tweaks. They’re experimenting with ditching traditional “damage ranges” (like 8-12 damage) in favor of letting your accuracy and the graze mechanic from Colony Ship define the impact. This means the better you aim, the more consistent your damage becomes, rather than leaving it all to a random dice roll.
Magic, Runes, and Body Horror
One of the biggest additions is spellcasting. Since this is a Lovecraftian world, magic isn’t about flashy fireballs; it’s dangerous and rare. You won’t find traditional wizards here. Instead, you’ll have “fighters who dabble,” using a limited pool of 9 core spells to tip the scales in battle.
In a move that sounds wonderfully grim, the “implants” from Colony Ship are being replaced by runes carved into the flesh. These runes provide permanent upgrades and special abilities, but they come at a cost. Combined with an alchemy and crafting system reminiscent of Age of Decadence, the customization options for your warband look incredibly deep.
Hand-Crafted Quests Over Procedural Maps
While the game is inspired by the “sandbox” feel of Battle Brothers, Iron Tower isn’t abandoning their narrative roots. After some internal testing, they decided to ditch procedurally generated quests in favor of hand-crafted content.
The game will feature three mutually exclusive main questlines, each with its own branch of choices and consequences. You can even switch allegiances mid-story if you realize you’ve backed the wrong cosmic horror. While the world is a semi-sandbox that you can explore freely, the developers have warned that certain “dark corners” of the map are essentially death traps for the unprepared.
The Road Ahead in Unreal Engine 5
Technical fans will be happy to know the studio is moving to Unreal Engine 5 for this title, aiming for a visual style that captures the “deep sense of wrongness” inherent in Lovecraftian themes. They’ve noted that while Colony Ship was a success, it didn’t make them “yacht money,” so the development of Heralds of the Third Apocalypse is being funded entirely by the continued sales of their previous hits.
The project is still in the relatively early stages—what the devs call a “70/30” chance of success until they have a fully playable build. But if you’re looking for a tactical RPG that doesn’t hold your hand and treats Lovecraftian horror with the respect (and lethality) it deserves, this is definitely one to keep on your radar.
