Islands of the Caliph
Release date: Sep 29, 2023
Developers: Schmidt Workshops
Publishers: Schmidt Workshops
Genres: Action, Adventure, Indie, RPG
Categories: Single-player, Steam Achievements, Family Sharing
Supported languages: English, German, Simplified Chinese

Features KEYBOARD ONLY input and other classic limitations to invoke that 1980s vibe. Please play the free demo to see if this is something you are interested in playing. Designed by solo developer Schmidt Workshops. Islands of the Caliph imagines an ancient, seafaring civilization based on Middle Eastern folklore and Islamic spiritual traditions. It is an action RPG inspired by classics like Might & Magic, Questron, Alternate Reality and more. It incorporates some of the gameplay elements of those older games, like grid based movement, and combines them with real-time combat to create a more immediate hybrid gameplay. Numerous mythical and dangerous beasts lurk in waiting as you explore and discover new lands. From giant spiders and scorpions, to more supernatural beings like ghouls and jinn, Islands of the Caliph will introduce players to some of the creatures of folklore of Arab, Persian and African cultures among others. Weapons include some familiar items along with those particular to the Middle East like scimitars, shamshirs and jambiyah among others. As you explore, your map with be updated automatically. Use it to keep track of your location and to discover new routes of exploration. A small mini map appears in the corner of the screen while exploring, but you can open it to view the whole area when needed. There is also a world map that will help orient the player and assist in finding quest locations. The player must explore this open world and discover the game's primary quest(s) for themselves. The game seeks to capture some of the open-endedness of some classic, RPGs allowing the player take a number of different possible paths to the end. Choices the player makes will set them on a course of action suited to their style of play. Some of these may allow players to reach new heights of spiritual awakening, while others may bring disaster down upon themselves or on all the Islands of the Caliph, it is your choice!

Press reviews: “To put it briefly, Islands of the Caliph is simply a very comfy game. It’s pretty, it’s creative, and most importantly it’s just plain fun.” RPG Codex “Indie RPG Islands Of The Caliph Gives You A Wonderful Retro Experience All the fun of MS-DOS without the fear of mistyping during installation.” Gamezebo “Want a dungeon crawler that offers something other than your usual western fantasy trappings? Islands of the Caliph, out now, is inspired by Middle Eastern folklore and Islamic tradition and, based on what we’ve seen of it, it’s rather fun.” Gamespew