Runes: The Forgotten Path
Release date: Nov 14, 2018
Developers: StormBorn Studio
Publishers: StormBorn Studio
Genres: Action, Adventure, Indie
Categories: Single-player, Tracked Controller Support, VR Only
Supported languages: English

100% designed for room scale VR. Cast spells by drawing in the air with motion controllers. Smooth locomotion, teleport and front facing gameplay are all options. Full story driven VR title with different environments and puzzle solving. Photogrammetry for full deep and immersive worlds. New seamless locomotion system: 4th wall (in addition to teleport and smooth locomotion). Nodding system: answer to yes or no questions just by moving your head. You are Leth , a wizard who awakens after a long slumber trying to escape from the Oblivion, a magical sleep prison of the mind. Your spells are forgotten. During the game you will recollect his memories bit by bit , recalling your past and figuring out the mystery behind a magical world populated by bizarre and unsettling entities. How did you become trapped in Oblivion? Who put you there? And why? Astray from the path of righteousness and trapped inside yourself by the tyrannical order of the Panopticon , you will have to face a blank beginning . With the use of your powerful spells and wits you will fight enemies, solve puzzles and pursue the recollection of all your lost memories. Legends tell of the ancient golden age of peace and prosperity at the beginning of time, when the Makers created mankind giving them the gift of Magic to shape reality and grow strong.  The Makers guided men, teaching them wisdom and love for all beings in the cosmos, but they left to other dimensions for unfathomable reasons. Mankind was left on its own. Men and women built a strong and wise civilization , bending the forces of magic to shape reality and create inconceivable wonders. Then the priceless gift of the Makers turned into a curse , as the strongest men, who grew power-hungry, became tyrants. The Panopticon had been established : an order of powerful wizards that started regulating magic, allowing only a little glimpse of it to be used by their underlings. The punishment for those who defied the law was Oblivion : an eternal sleep prison of the mind that forced the body of the traitors into life while their mind was imprisoned in a never ending limbo. This was the second age: an age of dictatorship, fear and hatred ; mankind was strong and safe, but was no longer free. Oppression lasted for centuries and it seemed it would never end, but all of a sudden something mysterious and terrible happened. The great Cataclysm, the causes of which are still unknown, left behind a scorched world, freeing forces of entropy on the lands of men that brought mankind on the verge of extinction. Runes uses a new locomotion system which combines 1st person and 3rd person gameplay mechanics.  The name of this system is '4th Wall' since the player crosses the wall from spectator to actor in a seamless yet engaging manner. The system works as follows: all interactions (such as fighting, dealing with puzzles, etc) happen in 1st person, however when traversing long distances the view can be switched to a 3rd person fixed camera. In this mode the player will see his avatar, and control it as in a regular 3rd person game, while still being able to move in room-scale and observe the environment. This allows for many interesting new concepts, from puzzle mechanics to narrative choices. 4th wall is however not the only locomotion solution adopted within the game. As of now we have several main locomotion systems working inside the game: 4th Wall, trackpad locomotion and teleport.

Press reviews: “Channeling a mechanic that I’ve been a fan of ever since I first played Arx Fatalis, in Runes you’ll have to draw the shapes of spells in the air using your hand in order to cast them.” Upload VR “What I saw left me wanting to go hands-on with its detailed world and gesture-based magic.” Hardcore Gamer “Stormborn Studio has something amazing on their hands. Runes: The Forgotten Path takes elements of some of the best VR games on the market, wraps it into a solid magic-based storyline, and turns us loose in a room scale experience that wildly exceeded my expectations.” Gamingtrend