Baladins presents a whimsical race against time

During PAX East 2024, I went hands-on with Baladins, a new RPG from Seed by Seed and Armor Games. Inspired by tabletop RPGs, Baladins revolves around the use of dice and time management as you work to complete quests and aid characters in a fantasy world before a magical dragon can send you back in time.

During my preview I played as Pyro, a fox character that is one of several playable creatures in Baladins. Each character has a unique set of starting stats that determine how they perform specific tasks. As I explored different locations in towns, the NPCs presented me with tasks such as recovering missing items or preventing a flood. It’s a bit of a narrative puzzle as I had to frequently retrace my steps and find characters who could help me procure the necessary items or information for each quest.

What really creates a challenge and sense of urgency is the game’s turn mechanic. Whether you’re playing alone or with up to three friends, Baladins limits how much you can move or act in a turn. Once your turn is over, the game will advance a week forward. After seven weeks have passed, a magical dragon will send you back in time if you haven’t successfully completed your objectives. When this happens, you can choose to jump back in and start a new loop, using the knowledge from your previous run on the next go-round.

You can perform various tasks in order to increase your proficiency in different skills, consuming action points but increasing the likelihood that you’re successful on future skill checks. In one instance, I tried to steal a bottle of wine from a cellar using my disguise skill. After rolling a nine, the owner of the property overheard me and kicked me from the building.

Baladins’ is clearly being made by a team that understands the appeal of tabletop RPGs, and I’m looking to see how the systems and mechanics transfer when the full game launches later this year. You can wishlist Baladins on Steam now, but the game is also targeting a release on Switch, PS4, and PS5.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_