Welcome back to our irregularly-scheduled programming, where I take a look at new dragon-centric games hitting the market. I haven’t done an overview since I started this blog back at the beginning of 2022 (see Part I and Part II here) so it’s high-time to do it again. The games I had mentioned in 2022 are all in various states of completion at this point – Chronicles of Galdurvale released to middling to poor reviews; Gedda Cake is on indefinite hiatus due to lack of funding; Day of Dragons still appears to be making shady, controversial decisions; and Glyde the Dragon just met its Kickstarter funding goal – to name a few.
Today, however, I’m going to open the floor to a number of titles that have cropped up more recently that I haven’t yet covered here. Once again, some of these are more complete than others, but I’m including anything that I think is worth keeping tabs on, as well as a couple less dragon-centric titles that could still be interesting.
The Last Sanctum
The Last Sanctum is yet another title in the upcoming-multiplayer-dragon-survival category. You start as a flightless lindwyrm and can grow into a variety of different dragon types, all within an open-world sandbox. From a brief perusal of the game’s dedicated Discord server, I’m not necessarily seeing anything that majorly differentiates this from similar titles, but the devs hope their hoard system and branching evolution mechanics help them stand out. So far we only have some early models, animations, and world assets to look at, but it’s not looking too bad so far. You can also follow progress via Twitter or Youtube.
The Wings of Dawn
Oh look, another multiplayer dragon survival game (maybe we’ll actually see one of these release fully one day?). The Wings of Dawn boasts the ability to play as humans or dragons, which to me personally isn’t that big of a draw and I suspect the balance of players will end up heavily tipped in favor of the dragons. Similar to other games in this genre, the devs have planned numerous customizable dragon species and a focus on managing biological needs and resources. Sounds like there will be more of a focus on group survival, if that is a playstyle you’re interested in. PvP and PvE modes are planned. This one looks a bit further along than The Last Sanctum, with a more developed world and more models, which are looking pretty good. Check out more at the following links: Steam, Discord, Twitter, Youtube (+more, you can find their full socials list on their Discord).
Dragontwin
Slotting this one in next as it is a direct antithesis to the previous two entries: solo dev Sidenius specifically calls out wanting something other than a game where you “roleplay as a dragon in a 100% science-based dragon MMO with other dragon lovers” and I feel so seen. Dragontwin is the game I’m currently most excited about, and the one that is probably the furthest out. It’s a single-player dragon-riding experience, with the dragon obviously being the main highlight. The dev so far has focused mostly on the dragons’ animations and flight system, and it looks so perfectly crunchy in all the best possible ways. This one is another ambitious, somewhat nebulous project that sounds like mostly a hobby endeavor, but I have high hopes that if it ever sees the light of day, I may finally have the single-player dragon game of my dreams. Dragontwin is still very early in development, but you can follow development progress on Discord, Twitter, Youtube, and more.
Heralds of the Avirentes
Chapter 1 of Heralds of the Avirentes recently released Chapter 1 into Early Access. It’s a bit of a change of pace from other entries on this year’s list, as it’s a visual novel centered around a race of “dragon-like” beings. It also has a turn-based combat system, apparently. Dragon-based visual novels aren’t exactly my cup of tea (I think it kind of misses the whole point, imo) but I know other similar titles like Golden Treasure: The Great Green have been well received. Check out the game on Steam and follow development on Discord.
First Dwarf
Our final two games on this roundup are rather dragon-light, but I thought I’d include them anyway. First Dwarf just released into Early Access. It’s described as an “immersive action RPG colony survival with base building and tower defense mechanics” which is quite a lot to cram in at once. You play as a dwarf that has some sort of mech suit and a dragon companion that you can control. The dragon mechanics look fairly lacking for the moment, but maybe they’ll be fleshed out more later? EA reviews so far are a bit mixed. Visit the game’s Steam page or website, and keep taps on development on Discord, Twitter, or Youtube.
Fading Skies
Finally we have Fading Skies. Similar to First Dwarf, you’ve got a companion dragon, though this one appears to grant main character Ryn (not to be confused with Rynn of the Drakan series) special abilities like gliding in a glowy humanoid dragon form. The visuals on this one are looking pretty good so far and I’m very curious to check it out once the game releases. Not sure how much great dragon action we’ll end up getting, but your little dragon pal is pretty cute.
