A few weeks ago we reported on the news that Mixed Realms’ Gordian Quest is coming to mobile later this year. It’s another newcomer to the roguelike world of deckbuilding, something that only seems to become more popular as time goes on. But what does it do to stand out? And what’s involved in successfully porting a game to mobile? These are all questions I asked Justin Ost and Aldric Chang when I had the chance to interview them!
Can you introduce yourself and your role in Gordian Quest to our readers?
JO: I’m Justin Ost, founder of Aether Sky. We are a publishing and distribution specialist, working with other publishers and developers to help expand the growth of great games worldwide. I’m a big fan of roguelites, deckbuilders, turn-based titles and the like – so I’m thrilled to support the launch of Gordian Quest on mobile platforms as our first exclusive launch.
AC: I’m Aldric Chang, CEO of Mixed Realms. We are an indie studio based in Singapore, best known for our powerful cyber ninja simulator Sairento VR and deck builder RPG Gordian Quest.
For those unfamiliar, what’s the elevator pitch for Gordian Quest?
JO: An epic roguelite deckbuilding RPG inspired by old-school classics like Ultima and D&D – now free to play on mobile for the first time.
Were there other games, movies, TV shows, or perhaps books that inspired the game? And if so, how did that manifest itself in Gordian Quest? Whether that be the art style, the story or the game mechanics.
AC: Dungeons and Dragons, Path of Exile and Slay the Spire are the biggest influences for Gordian Quest. We wanted to combine the three elements of party adventure, like D&D, expansive skill trees like Path of Exile, and deck synergies like Slay the Spire.
Deckbuilding RPGs are fairly common, especially on mobile. What sets Gordian Quest apart from the crowd?
JO: Quality, scale and style. This is a premium PC game ported to mobile and we don’t see many titles on mobile that match it in quality. Additionally, Gordian Quest offers a different kind of experience with up to 18 units on the battlefield at once – reinforcements not included – robust character and equipment customization true to RPG systems, world exploration and camping mechanics to name a few. Not to mention the sheer breadth of content: several possible builds and party compositions for the 10 different characters with their unique specializations, talents, and more are on a completely different level than pretty much anything else we’ve seen.
The game was previously released on PC, so it’s a well-known entity to some extent. What made you decide this was the time to bring it to mobile? Whether that’s the current market, player requests or just a matter of ‘why not’.
JO: It’s a combination of players longing for the ability to play the game on mobile and also a bit of ‘Why Not’ – the combination of the two is a powerful argument!
Gordian Quest on PC continued to be updated until last year, when plans were drawn up to port the game to other platforms. Why not bring an example of the genre to more gamers? On mobile specifically, we didn’t think there were too many real competitors to Gordian Quest. Since then we’ve also seen games like Loop Hero or Balatro make the transition to mobile – both absolutely phenomenal titles – and do very well. This is a nice indication of the market demand for standout games of this type.
Can you walk us through the process of transferring a game from PC to mobile? What changes were needed to get it to work properly on a touchscreen device? Is it a more complex process than non-developers like me realize?
AC: The Unity game engine in general is super versatile – so flexibility and modularity are a big help initially. However, in addition to the adaptive functionality of the Unity engine, there are several important considerations.
Players often appreciate customizable controls and full-screen options. Fortunately, due to Gordian Quest’s click-based gameplay, minimal adjustments were needed to address this for the transition between PC and mobile.
Improving UI compatibility for mobile devices is another crucial process. We have spent a significant amount of time in this area. With the level of detail and text inherent to Gordian Quest’s gameplay, readability and functionality are obviously critical. For example, by ensuring that the user interface scales well across different screen sizes and resolutions, and ensuring that tooltips and other elements are not hidden during gameplay.
Another important step is testing. With the plethora of different devices and specs in mobile, it’s somewhat daunting but incredibly important to thoroughly test the game across devices and identify any platform or handset-specific issues. This ensures that players, regardless of device, enjoy consistent performance and usability,
Often noticed during the testing phase are a large number of platform compatibility bugs.
We have identified and addressed numerous issues at this stage arising from the various differences in the handset platform. These include issues such as frame rate inconsistency, screen resolution and general display issues, crashes and lag, to name a few. These bugs require individual investigation and solutions, often due to incompatible shaders or plugins etc. on different handsets.
So to summarize and answer the question: yes ‘under the hood’ when porting to mobile there are a host of obstacles and technical challenges that need to be addressed and overcome. Our job is to make sure players don’t notice or feel any of this and can just enjoy the experience for mobile platforms.
The mobile market is a very different beast than PC when it comes to payment models. How will Gordian Quest generate revenue?
JO: Gordian Quest on mobile will be free to play. Accessibility and fairness were very important considerations in bringing the game to mobile and from the start, players will have free access to most of the game’s Realm mode, with half of the characters available. There is then only one purchase option to unlock the rest of the full game and remove ads.
We hope this allows people to get started without the initial financial barrier, and decide to unlock the full version (Campaign + Adventure Modes, all characters and final levels of Realm Mode) to enjoy the game the way it was meant to be enjoyed. all its possibilities can be played. glorious content.
Finally, can you share when the game will be released? Or about when? Will it also be available on iOS and Android?
JO: We aim for Gordian Quest to be available on mobile this winter – and this will be on both iOS and Android. It is important for us not to release the game until it is optimized and of sufficient quality to meet the high expectations of our players. Additionally, Aether Sky specializes in distribution on alternative platforms and app stores, so you can expect Gordian Quest to be available on other local and global channels as well.
Are there any further plans for Gordian Quest after the mobile version launches? Similarly, are you working on anything new that you can share with us or perhaps tease?
JO: Depending on player feedback, we may look at introducing a multiplayer Skirmish mode on the mobile version and possibly additional content over time. Player feedback will play an important role in shaping how Gordian Quest will evolve. As for Aether Sky, while we have nothing else to share today, but watch this space, our story is just beginning!
