Calderia’s Great Houses promise a family story unlike any other
You want your family to be close on some days and you still enjoy the everyday things, such as taxing peasants and maximising your farm’s production. There are times when you need to send your family members away to conquer the globe. The inevitable war at home would be more impressive than any global conquest.
This is probably not your family life, but it’s your life in Great Houses of Calderia developed by Resistance Games, Firesquid.
Jussi Autio, Resistance Games’ creative director, was my host for a preview of Great Houses of Calderia. I was intrigued by the promises of a grand strategy game that is more intimate and where people matter more than ever.
Peace and prosperity begin with making sure that your family has plenty of things to do. It takes more than a few clicks to manage your fiefdom. Each family member will need to be given a specific task. If you are a wise head of the household, this will also help them. Each family member has their own set of skills, interests, and abilities that influence production.
This is not only for your immediate family. Autio predicts that Great Houses of Calderia can last for many generations. Your scions will grow and change throughout their lives. Each relative has a complex storyline, which unfolds over time, and may, depending on your choices change, their role within the family.
You need to be careful about how you act and move outside of your home, no matter what happens. Your relationships with other houses in Calderia, which are equally ambitious and creative, depend on you, your family. While ambassadors to foreign courts can provide information and help to make an alliance work, your rivals won’t be fooled. If there are too many outsiders in their court or suspicious ones, your marriage may be ruined.
Even the best friends can’t protect a bad deal. It is not something anyone wants to do.
Autio stated that the team would like to highlight the role-playing aspect of Great Houses through these choices. These are the “captain-obvious” decisions that you should not make. For example, you shouldn’t expect great results if you insist on a skewed deal with your new ally.
