Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Indie
War for the Overworld
Wicked Ones Release & End of 2020 Community spotlight
Darkest greetings Underlords,
Through the darkest of tunnels we can see a light flickering at the end, not a mere torchlight but one of blazing radiance. With the last hours of the cursed year 2020 quickly fading we hope that our message reaches across the aether and finds you safe and well.
As we close out the year we have a few small announcements, firstly that of our final Community Spotlight for this year, which features some more excellent maps from the community and then news from our partners at Bandit Camp, developers of the tabletop RPG Wicked Ones!
Read on Underlords!
Quarter 4 Community Spotlight
This quarter's spotlight contains gems recently hewn from the rock which forms the strata of the Steam Workshop. Five new realms to assert your dominance across and a grand campaign produced by a partnership of skilled artisans that inhabit the workshop.
It's a truly momentous experience playing through a campaign which several of our most dedicated community members worked on together, we certainly hope to see more such cooperation from our loyal Underlords!
As always each and every spotlighted author will receive a code for the Golden Imp, if they have not already. So be sure to check the private comments on your items for your code!
Deathmatch Levels
Core Shards Levels
Scenario Levels
Custom Campaigns
If you want to get your hands on these incredible levels we've included links to download them separately or you can download them as part of our community spotlight! You can also subscribe to the meta spotlight collection which collects together all our existing spotlights in a single click download.
Back in June 2019 we were proud to put our support behind Wicked Ones, an innovative and ambitious tabletop RPG which neatly translates the dungeon building concept into a roleplaying experience.
With the help of our Underlords they managed to hit their Kickstarter goals and more, unlocking not just all their stretch goals but also goals which unlocked access to WFTO themed content for the game!
We are pleased to announce that our devilish friends at Bandit Camp have now released the core rules for the game, which have achieved great success over at Drive Thru RPG, hitting #2 on the best selling charts!
So what are you waiting for Underlord? Grab some of your fellow lords, a copy of the Wicked Ones rules and a virtual table top and explore this awesome game right now!
WICKED ONES is a Forged in the Dark tabletop RPG about a group of fantasy monsters building a dungeon, launching raids on the surface to gather a hoard, and pursuing your nefarious master plan. Along the way, there's pillaging, rituals, concoctions, contraptions, discoveries deep in the ground, dungeon rooms, traps, creatures, minions, and so much more! You build your dungeon over time throughout the campaign and no two dungeons will ever be alike.
You bask in choosing the greater of two evils as your group strives to accomplish its master plan and terrorize the region around your dungeon.
However, your vile deeds lure increasingly greedy and powerful adventurers into your dungeon. Can you stave off the inevitable onslaught of heroism that your notoriety brings?
As for the War for the Overworld content? Well rest assured that's still on the horizon, we are in talks with Bandit Camp for the next phase as development ramps up on the splatbook to bring your games of Wicked Ones into the setting of War for the Overworld!
You'll be able to build your dungeon as an Underlord, possess your very own minions and crush the goodly forces of the Empire as you race to establish your notoriety within Kairos!
We'll be sure to keep you informed as we approach release!
That's all for now Underlords, all that remains is to wish you and your families a safe and hopefully more stable 2021, we'll see you soon...
As the world above battles with the seemingly cursed year that is 2020. The crash of steel on reverberates through the long-dormant halls of the Underworld. Hushed whispers on cultists lips carry words of great works undertaken by skilled artificers; and that something greater still is being forged in the furnaces of the deep.
It is time once more Underlord to delve into the untold depths to uncover the deeper dungeons and shimmering gems, crafted by your fellow underlords.
But before you do let us first regale you with what news returns from those pesky development imps, shuttered away as they are in the darkest levels of the dungeon.
Updates from the Studio Floor(s)
We know it's been some time since we provided you with updates on the state of affairs at Brightrock and we know many of you are curious and even worried about us at the studio, especially with the challenges that many are facing in the current climate.
We honestly appreciate the messages of concern we've received and we'd first like to assure everyone that we are all well and working hard on Project Aftercare. On the state of our studio here are the highlights:
We are fortunate in many ways that we have lots of experience with working from homes and the transition was largely smooth. What impact there has been to production is slight.
This brings us to the state of the project itself. We realise that we have been radio silent for a long time beyond some initial teases. There are many reasons for this, primarily that we want to focus all our energy into making the game, and we are fortunately in a position to do so. Here’s what you need to know:
We know that news on the game has been a long time coming and we thank you for your patience, we're working hard to ensure that when we can finally share more details it'll have been worth the wait!
Quarter 3 Community Spotlight
Your cultists have retrieved an incredible wealth of impressive works from across the vast archives of the underworld. This Quarter's spotlight is packed to the brim with some truly impressive accomplishments which are sure to be excellent additions to your domain.
Congratulations to all our spotlighted creators who have all earned the fabulous golden worker skin this month. Remember if you have any fan creations at all related to War for the Overworld we'd love to see them. Simply drop us a line on our Discord, Forums, Twitter or elsewhere and we'll try to include them in the spotlight!
The coveted Golden Worker could be yours!
This quarter we have just under a dozen maps for you and an incredibly awesome campaign for you to try out, making this spotlight one of the largest we've ever put together.
Moreover, as you'll see from the list below some of the maps included are ingenious feats that truly demonstrate how far Mightyscript can be pushed and needless to say it's beyond our wildest expectations!
Deathmatch Levels
Core Shards Levels
King of the Underhill Levels
Scenario Levels
Custom Campaigns
If you want to get your hands on these incredible levels we've included links to download them separately or you can download them as part of our community spotlight! You can also subscribe to the meta spotlight collection which collects together all our existing spotlights in a single click download.
WFTO'S 5th Birthday! Feat. Sale, Spotlight & Worker Skin
Darkest Greetings Underlords,
We hope you enjoyed our April Fool’s yesterday! It’s always a pleasure to work on something totally out there for a few days. Today we’re coming to you with different news entirely and a whole lot more genuine!
As some of you may know, War for the Overworld launched from early access on April 2nd, 2015. That means that today is officially War for the Overworld’s fifth birthday! Incredible isn’t it? Five years ago we launched a game that was already three years in the making (or well over a decade, depending on who you ask!). But what that basically means is that WFTO has been around one helluva long time!
That journey has been a transformative one for us here at Brightrock. So much of our lives have been defined by War for the Overworld for so long that many of us forgot what the surface world actually looked like.
Here’s what we’re doing to mark the occasion!
Fifth Birthday Sale!
In celebration of War for the Overworld hitting its first major milestone, we’re working with Steam to put the game and DLC on its biggest sale yet, and for a whole week!
That’s right! We’re bringing the game down deeper than even any Underlord’s home realm, to numbers never before seen! If you’ve still not completed your collection, or you know someone that would make a great Underlord, then now is the time to check it out via the links above.
Every quarter we bring together our favourite maps from across the War for the Overworld community, and we thought that tying this into the anniversary would only make things more convenient for you.
This quarter’s spotlight contains a cavalcade of content ready for your twisted exploration:
As always you can download the content by subscribing to our community spotlights, either individually or collectively!
Finally, as a reminder if you would like to see your art or map featured in a future spotlight, be sure to send it across to us via our forums, Twitter or Facebook! If we feature your creation we'll send you a code for the elusive Golden Worker Skin!
Oni Ashigaru Worker Returns!
As the sakura petals bloom marking the arrival of Hanami to Japan, the Oni Ashigaru worker has returned from his ronin adventures. He now stands ready to carve a path through the earth and anyone that stands in the way of his new master - if you can secure his fealty.
Remaining from now until the end of April, this exclusive time-limited worker skin will be available to all players for free if you launch the game during this time. Once you have him, he will remain with you in perpetuity, such is his sworn loyalty.
Act fast however, because if you miss the arrival of this wandering warrior, then come the end of April he will be gone for another year!
That concludes all of the festivities! Thank you all for your support over the last five years, and from even before then as well! Please look out for further announcements from Brightrock in 2020!
And to all of you, please stay safe throughout the Covid-19 outbreak. Team Brightrock have returned to our roots and gone fully remote for the time being, so we can all work from home. Be sure to follow the recommended advice from your government, and we’ll see you all on the other side!
Coming Soon: Street Fight for the Overworld (April Fools!)
Auspicious Greetings Underlord,
The long wait is finally over! The time has come and your patience is to be justly rewarded. Indeed we are ready to pull back the curtain and reveal the totally true identity of Project: Aftercare!
But first we must address the elemental in the treasure room. It’s been made clear to us that those among our learned comrades of the PC Gaming Elite, as most of our fans are, have no need for console editions of existing games. The fog now serenely lifted from our folly by your cold, hard feedback, we have taken the right course and cancelled the upcoming Sony PlayStation release of War for the Overworld.
Who even owns a PlayStation anyway?
With that much needed course correction now well and truly behind us, we needed to consider once more what it is that our most valued fans truly want... No... What is it they need? There can be only one answer! Introducing ULTRA Street Fight for the Overworld Hyper XX Accent Plus Double Overload Turbo!
Deadly Dungeon Combat Confirmed!
ULTRA Street Fight for the Overworld Hyper XX Accent Plus Double Overload Turbo (USFFTOHX2A+DOT for short) is the premier 2D fighting game from the team here at Brightrock. Looking at our core cast of characters we knew that the next big thing our fans would truly need is to see these devilishly diverse characters beat each other senseless.
You’ll duke it out in richly-detailed environments straight from WFTO!
You and up to one additional friend will pick from 20 wickedly awesome dungeon dwelling characters, all drawn from War for the Overworld’s pool of both Underlord and Empire units! Not only that, but each one will be realised in a jaw-dropping retro pixel-art style! Each character also features a full move set to call their own, from the blood-wielding cultist Brian to the ever charming and deeply disarming Lord of the Land, Lord O’Theland. There are even 3 hidden characters to unlock!
Here comes a new challenger!
But what makes USFFTOHX2A+DOT truly unique and special in this highly competitive genre? Well we’re glad you asked gentle beat ‘em up aficionado! In addition to choosing your character you’ll also pick a master for them, an Underlord if you will (or otherwise!) to command them in the arena and provide even more unique powers!
For example, choosing Underlord Kasita as your master will grant your chosen warrior the “Blood Money” trait. This means that for every point of damage they do to the enemy you gain gold. This gold can then be spent between rounds or even mid-match for special boons such as:
Kasita isn’t the only master who you’ll be able to pick though: all of your favourite Underlords are available, except for Korvek - he’s too popular to be included in the base game. But rest assured we have the perfect solution for those who can’t do without!
Expand Your Experience!
USFFTOHX2A+DOT is what we like to call a living, breathing, fleecing game. By that we mean that it will continue to evolve in new ways to make us money and to offer you, our valued player, valuable but overpriced downloadable content.
This includes new characters, masters, skins, hair colour changes, music, UI interfaces, cheat codes, story skips, and mutators! Needless to say, if we can think of it we’ll put a price on it! We’ve already planned out our first fifty DLCs for the 2020 Season Pass; here’s some of the highlights:
Cover up and protect yourself from those harmful rays and gazes!
If you don’t feel like paying extra for your post-release characters don’t worry - we’ll be releasing ULTRA Street Fight for the Overworld Hyper XX Accent Plus Double Overload Turbo - Revision Reload (USFFTOHX2A+DOT - RR) within the next two years! This edition will include all DLCs and space for plenty more to be added later!
Finally, all that remains to be said is that USFFTOHX
We have returned once more to deliver unto you another community spotlight, packed to the brim with the most excellent maps from across the community! This week we've brought forth three deathmatch levels, three scenarios and a king of the underhill level. Read on Underlords!
Community Spotlight
As always we’d like to remind you we're eager to include anything WFTO related in our spotlights. Anything creative such as levels made with our editor, campaigns, art, videos, sound, cosplay you name it we want to share it!
If you have something that you think might fit the bill then get in touch via Discord, Twitter or our Steam,GOG or Official Forums! You might just be chosen to receive the coveted Golden Worker skin!
Now let us jump right in with our selection of glimmering maps from across the community this quarter! Remember you can download all these maps individually or as part of our Steam Collection!
You can download all of our spotlighted content from the Steam Collection.
Deathmatch Levels
King of the Underhill
Scenario
Congratulations to all the creators who have had their work featured today! We’ll be delivering your Golden Worker codes (provided you’ve not had one already!) next week! Keep checking the private forum attached to your featured work for your code. If you have any questions please get in touch with us directly!
The Dragon Worker Remains!
For the Lunar New Year the exclusive Dragon Worker skin has been made available once more. If you missed the sales and the announcement , fear not as you can still login until the 20th of February and get your hands on this awesome skin!
Don't miss your opportunity to grab this excellent skin as if you do he will not return until next Lunar New Year!
The Lunar New Year is upon us once more and in celebration, the ever lucky Dragon Worker has returned to bring you his blessings.
We’re also pleased to announce that the game is on sale with up to 75% off all War for the Overworld products until the end of the Steam Lunar Sale!
To Unlock the Dragon Worker, Simply log-in to the game any time before the 20th of February to unlock this awesome, unique skin for your workers to use in any non-campaign game mode. But act fast, once he's gone he won't return for another year!
The nights grow dark and the days grow ever shorter as we head into the twilight months of 2019. It’s been a busy year for us at Brightrock Games, though we realise it’s been quiet on the news front for all of you, our valued fans, eagerly awaiting info on what’s next.
To that, we say that 2020 should be quite an exciting year for us all in which Brightrock takes the next step. We can’t wait to share what we’re cooking up with you!
In the meantime, we’re keeping the dungeon core of War for the Overworld beating with this month’s community spotlight, and our participation in the Steam Halloween Sale!
So without further ado let’s get cracking!
Halloween Sale
With the spookiest of days descending upon Steam, we’re pleased to announce that War for the Overworld and all its DLC will be on sale in this Halloween! From now until 1 November we’re running the following discounts:
Given the nature of the season, we thought we’d offer a spook-tacular discount for those looking to get into the creepy spirit of this harrowing holiday, with a full 90% off on the Seasonal Worker Skins, the maximum we can offer in a Steam Sale! You can finally grab that maimed imp the Jack O’Worker, along with all his seasonal buddies, for the paranormal price of £0.40 / $0.60 / €0.60! Head on over to Steam now to grab yours!
If you’ve ever fancied getting your hands on these 4 exclusive skins then now’s the best opportunity!
Autumn Spotlight
Before we jump into our selection of community-made maps for this spotlight, we’re announcing a few changes to the format!
Firstly, as WFTO continues to ramp down with the flow of community maps, and our resources available to curate them become less, we’re changing the cadence of spotlights to once every three months, or each quarter.
This means that this quarter’s spotlight will be the Autumn (Q4) spotlight covering October, November and December. In January we’ll review the maps from the last few months and choose our favourites, and then continue for the foreseeable future!
In addition, where previously we’ve tried to select maps to match a predefined format and template, we’ll instead be more variable each quarter, selecting between 5 and 10 items from the workshop to feature, regardless of their category!
That covers our changes, so let’s get on to what you’re here for: the maps!
You can download all of our spotlighted content from the Steam Collection.
It is that time of month again Underlords. The dark moon waxes high in the sky, not that we can see it from down here in the depths. Fortunately, another source of light is to be found, 7 glorious maps and a whole custom campaign.
Community Spotlight
As always we’d like to remind you we're eager to include anything WFTO related in our spotlights. Anything creative such as levels made with our editor, campaigns, art, videos, sound, cosplay you name it we want to share it!
If you have something that you think might fit the bill then get in touch via Discord, Twitter or our Steam,GOG or Official Forums! You might just be chosen to receive the coveted Golden Worker skin!
Now let us jump right in with our selection of glimmering maps from across the community this month. Remember you can download all these maps individually or as part of our Steam Collection!
From the darkest abyss a new Spotlight emerges, bringing to you a collection of the most incredible, creative and even downright strange maps from the realm of Kairos. This month another seven realms and a massive twenty level campaign will be packaged together for you!
But first, a quick update on the Wicked Ones kickstarter that we are collaborating with!
Wicked Ones Kickstarter - Augre "True Monster" Class Unlocked
Yesterday we announced our collaboration with B-design.io who are developing a tabletop RPG game which is currently on Kickstarter. You can read all about that here.
For now we're pleased to announce that the first WFTO stretch goal, the addition of the Augre as a playable "true monster" class has been reached. Meaning these awesome augmented monstrosities will be coming to the Wicked Ones RPG when in releases in 2020!
If you're into Tabletop roleplaying games (Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder etc.) then we think you'll love the Wicked Ones which crosses the DNA of those games with that of Dungeon Management games like War for the Overworld. It's the perfect experience for you and a group of your fellow Underlords!
As always we’d like to remind you we're eager to include anything WFTO related in our spotlights. Anything creative such as levels made with our editor, campaigns, art, videos, sound, cosplay you name it we want to share it!
If you have something that you think might fit the bill then get in touch via Discord, Twitter or our Steam,GOG or Official Forums! You might just be chosen to receive the coveted Golden Worker skin!
Now let us jump right in with our selection of awesome maps from across the community this month. Remember you can download all these maps individually or as part of our Steam Collection!
You can download all of our spotlighted content from the Steam Collection.
Deathmatch Levels
King of the Underhill
Core Shards
My Pet Dungeon
Scenario
Custom Campaign
Featured Creator
Congratulations to all the creators who have had their work featured today! We’ll be delivering your Golden Worker codes (provided you’ve not had one already!) by the end of the week! Keep checking the private forum attached to your featured work for your code. If you have any questions please get in touch with us directly!
Have you ever felt that there’s more to life than amassing your armies of darkness, plundering the towns of innocents, and slaughtering goodly heroes? No? Us neither. In fact, we are so driven by these desires we can’t help seeking out new ways to indulge them.
One such way we have discovered recently is the joyous evil of Wicked Ones, a new tabletop RPG that is currently on Kickstarter. Let’s see here, what do they say about themselves?
This sounds strangely familiar...
“Wicked Ones is a Forged in the Dark tabletop RPG where you play fantasy monsters raiding human lands, hoarding the gold they loot, and building a dungeon to protect it. Your notoriety lures increasingly greedy and powerful adventurers to your dungeon. Can you stave off the inevitable onslaught of heroism that your notoriety brings?”
Well, that sounds right up our tunnel doesn’t it, Underlord? It should, after all both War for the Overworld and our genre-mates have served as inspiration for this game. We like it so much that we have something truly special to reveal today.
Wicked Ones Come to Kairos
Those of us who dwell in the dark have to stick together. It is for this reason that we proudly declare a collaboration with the delightfully devilish designers of Wicked Ones, in which our dark world collides with their own.
We are joining Hands of Evil on special stretch goals for their Kickstarter, drawing forth elements from War for the Overworld for your gaming pleasure.
There’s quite a range of content up for grabs: from “True Monsters”, playable classes which put you in the shoes of one of your favourite minions from Kairos, to hero cards for the goodly forces of the Empire. It all culminates in a splatbook which will enable you to bring your games to Kairos, with special rules inspired by War for the Overworld.
If you ever wanted to roleplay as an Augre, crushing the hapless heroes of the Empire with your augmented hands, and then forging the battered remains of their armour into your very own skin - now’s your chance!
Familiar faces join the fray, just be glad they're on your side
What are all the WFTO Stretch Goals you ask? Well get a load of this:
As you can see there’s a whole slew of awesome WFTO content to grab. But how can you get all these fantastic prizes and more? Read on!
Support the Kickstarter
Wicked Ones already hit their Kickstarter goal of ¥1,080,000 (~$10,000 USD) and at the time of writing have raised ¥1,614,660 (~£15,000 USD), enough for two of their stretch goals with 13 days to go!
Each session of Wicked Ones will see you striking out into the world of heroes, one of these worlds could very well be Kairos!
But bringing the denizens of Kairos through the rift will prove challenging. The Augre will soon pass the precipice at ¥1.7M (~$15,800 US) but we’ll need your help to take us all the way to the Splatbook.
You can support Wicked Ones via their Kickstarter page. Pledging your support will net you a set of awesome rewards based upon your tier.
Tier 1 - The Game - ¥2,150 (~$20 USD)
This tier will net you the game and all unlocked stretch goals, excluding the Toolkit hero cards and Heroes of The Empire hero cards.
Tier 2 - The Game & The Toolkit - ¥4,300 (~$40 USD)
Grab this tier and you’ll not only get the game but also a set of Toolkit cards with which to manage those heroes who would dare enter your domain. At this tier you’ll get all stretch goals.
To support the cause we’ve offered a number of War for the Overworld Steam codes to Wicked Ones, adding this new tier to their campaign. If you’ve somehow yet to grab War for the Overworld then this is the perfect opportunity to do so, and get your hands on an awesome RPG at the same time!
It should go without saying that all proceeds from this Kickstarter go to the Wicked Ones project, and that neither the WFTO reward tier nor stretch goals in any way generate revenue for Brightrock Games. We believe that the world deserves more variety of games in this style and we hope that our contributions will help their endeavour to succeed.
That covers everything Underlord. As a final reminder, you have 13 days to back the Wicked Ones Kickstarter and support the cause of evil. We believe that the quality of their work speaks for itself and will be a fine addition to any Underlord’s Archive.
Finally, we’ll be dropping our next community spotlight tomorrow, featuring a set of new community-made maps for WFTO. Keep an ear underground.
