It’s been a little over a year since someone at Lavapotion came up with the idea of making a small survivor game set in the world of Songs of Conquest. Just something fun for a few of the team to work on, a little palette cleanser between all the other things they had going on. And now… Lavapotion are releasing an entire game full of frogs, spells, monsters, and a rather suspicious egg that seems to know an awful lot about magic.
It’s fair to say that the team got a little carried away (and we love it!)
Watch the Trailer – Out Now on Steam
If you haven’t followed Wielders of the Essence closely, it’s Lavapotion’s take on the survivor genre, with a few things borrowed from its bigger, older sibling Songs of Conquest.
You play as a Wielder, fighting your way through hordes of enemies, recruiting troops to fight alongside you, and using the Essence they provide to cast all sorts of spells. And trust us when we say, there are quite a few ways to get rid of an approaching horde of rats!
Between runs, you’ll return to your settlement and the meta progression level of the game, where you can build new things, unlock troops, improve your skills, and generally prepare yourself for your next run.
There are five different maps, each with its own enemies and bosses, and several difficulties to work your way through.
There’s also the Ascension mode which lets you tweak and modify settings to create your own challenges with Boons and Curses to really augment the experience further!
What would Wielders of the Essence be without the titular Wielders?
You’ll start your adventure with G’roda, but as you fight your way through the different maps, you’ll rescue more Wielders, each with their own way of dealing with the enemies trying to make a meal out of you. Some Wielders are better at leading troops; others are more interested in throwing spells around. The breadth of ways you can build for each run varies, and is there for you to discover!
I bet P’cha brings snacks to events like this.
And finally, the team want to say a big thank you to everyone who’s been helping us test and hype Wielders over the past months. We’ve had hundreds of you running around the swamps, fighting your way through the icy lands of Vanir and the deserts of Barya, finding bugs, trying out some truly ridiculous combinations, and generally helping us make the game better. A couple of you also completed things that we internally deemed nigh impossible, but what do we know?
The feedback we’ve gotten has been incredibly useful, and we don’t think the game would be quite what it is today without all of you, so from this little Swedish studio, thank you.
And of course, a great big thanks to everyone who’s wishlisted the game, followed our devlogs, or just cheered us on while we were busy making frogs throw fireballs at things. Now, enough talking. Wielders of the Essence is out on Steam, and there’s a swamp that needs saving!
Well, what are you waiting for? Go save the swamp!
— From Anders and the rest of Lavapotion
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