Escape The Mad Empire

About This Game

Escape the Mad Empire

The game is based on a mixture of genres, like traditional roguelikes, tactical party-based RPG (or CRPG), management/base-building RPG and even a touch of action-RPG by its format, pace and art.

Why choose real-time combat instead of turn-based combat?

Because it tries to offer the best of both worlds: fast combat and precision in controls. Generally speaking, real-time combat allows for much faster gameplay and a greater sense of action but usually makes the party more difficult to control compared to turn-based combat. Our game uses an instant-action system on pause (There’s no pre-casting timer) that gives a similar level of control over spells and skills as in turn-based RPG. By using instant-actions and bonus actions at key moments on pause, your party can chain a series of precisely controlled measures through various characters or their bonus actions that can turn the tide of the battle instantly.

Story

The underground empire mined and used powerful magic crystals to create abominations and crazy experiments which all backfired dramatically. The empire has now fallen and lies in chaos and disarray. As you discover the various apocalypses caused by the Mad Empire, will you be able to rescue the surviving citizens trapped in the locked-down underground? Can you even save yourself?

Deep Tactical Experience

Party management, real-time combat with instant-action on pause, cover, flanking, terrain, surface effects (like fire, water, ice, oil, poison, acid, etc.), positioning, tons of usable items with contextual effects, lots of statuses affecting creatures, magic items with special mechanics (and more), all leading to emerging gameplay and a rich, non-repetitive, dramatic and intense experience.

Crazy Magic Items

In its madness, the empire also used the crystals to create a whole class of absurd and cursed magic items. Those items are usually very powerful and bizarre. For instance, the effect of Brittle Daemon that transforms your base damage to fire, gives you +2 damage, 2 Ignite charges and 1 Fireball Charge, Immunity to Fire but weakness to cold, -10 to defense and sets you on fire (Yes you will set oil surfaces ablaze if you walk over them inadvertently). This helps give personality to your characters and adds to replayability and emerging gameplay.

Resource Management

Over the course of a mission, manage your spell charges, hunger, thirst, health, injuries, instability and consumables (potions, scrolls, food, drinks, etc.). Will you dare to equip that potentially cursed unidentified item or use that powerful unidentified potion right away? Perhaps you should wait until you have more scrolls of identification? Well, half your party is unconscious on the ground, you have to make a choice! Maybe you’ll sacrifice that legendary chicken to distract monsters as you run? You’ll starve to death but at least you’ll live another day…

Meta-Game and Game Structure

The core of the game is a rogue-lite dungeon crawling experience with randomly generated maps, random items or monsters spawns and perma-death.

Those ‘runs’ are organized in mission structures that you complete for rewards and progress. As you progress through missions, the story will evolve and new apocalypses, quests, threats and environments will be revealed.

Between each run, you’ll have the chance to manage your team and build your base. Recruit characters, train and equip them, craft or buy items and upgrade your base infrastructures to increase your management efficiency.

Other Features

The game also features boss battles, hundreds of items and spells, a whole bunch of monsters based on different mechanics, numerous environments, quests, epic runs, etc., and will keep adding content during EA and after release.