Germany – December 2, 2024 – Prepare to unleash elemental magic and ride dragons into battle in the highly anticipated (~13,000 demo players!) action-roguelite shooter, Black Dragon Mage, set to release on December 4, 2024 on Steam for PC with support for Steam Deck and Linux via Proton.
Developed by German solo indie developer datablob, this top-down pixel art title combines an occult, dark fantasy theme with cute and lively 16-bit visuals and intense, horde-survival mass onslaughts.
Drawing inspiration from Death Must Die, Halls of Torment, Boneraiser Minions, Bomberman, the SNES-era of RPGs, Diablo, 20 Minutes Till Dawn and Vampire Survivors, the game focuses on player agency, clever use of APRG-style skills, strategic positioning and juicy, cohesive art direction.
In Black Dragon Mage, players hatch and fly their own dragon companions, the first two of the batch being Talon (a black dragon) and Ignilith (a red dragon, newly revealed!), as they confront relentless demonic hordes and formidable bosses.
Key features include:
- Soaring Dragon Companions: Hatch and ride your own dragon into battle, utilizing their unique abilities to gain the upper hand.
- Dazzling Elemental Magic: Unleash a diverse arsenal of spells, including fireballs, icy orbs, dwarven hammers, and arcane beams, each with customizable upgrade paths and visualised with incredibly vivid particle effects and shaders.
- Procedurally Generated Environments: Explore infinitely large maps with randomly placed power-ups and hazards, ensuring no two runs are the same.
- Challenging Boss Fights: Test your skills against formidable bosses that require strategic thinking and quick reflexes. Battle a giant pyramid cyclops deity, an ancient Nordic skeleton warrior elite, or the (inspired by Gauntlet) never-dying Reaper himself.
- Refreshing Build Variety: Unlock new weapons, abilities, and upgrades in the Hall of Relics to tailor your character's progression.
Dragons can be used interchangeably as an epic mount while serving as an "ult attack" (ultimate) for strategic use. They are able to be summoned at will, provided there is sufficient mana. Players may escape precarious situations on dragonback and fly out of the reach of certain attacks, or survive the hordes pressuring them from all sides via the help of their winged companions. In addition to the greatly increased mobility, the main weapon of each mage is additionally buffed whilst flying.
Yes, you may pet the dragon now.
Mages offer different playstyles
Quinn, a classic mage and chaotic fella, is the main character of the game. With some finesse, players can unlock additional characters.
A female dwarven engineer mage, Schmiedrun (NEWLY REVEALED), is among the first big unlocks in the Early Access phase of the game. She can fix anything. And break anything.
While Quinn relies on elemental staves that fire projectiles with different characteristics - from the classic fireball, to chaotic shadow bolts, slow-moving but large frost projectiles or a hitscan-based lightning staff that can chain-zap targets in exhilarating combos - Schmiedrun brings a more dwarven, yet arcane arsenal to the table.
Her hammer is imbued with arcane intelligence and will, when thrown forcefully, bounce to subsequent targets as if it has a mind of its own. When multiplied, her arcane hammer and its duplicates take on the effortless and graceful flight characteristics of a flock of birds - but land with unparalleled power. Her dwarven automata, think turrets, allow her to distribute her focus across the battlefield.
ENGINEER-MAGE and DWARVEN TINKERER "SCHMIEDRUN"
Mutators and Environments morph the shape of every run
Players collect soul gems to level up whilst slaying mobs in the two highly distinct biomes, the Desert of Legion and the cemetery of Graveheart Hollow. Levelling up grants either a spell for the maximum of 3 hot bar slots, or perks that affect their loadout, character and dragon.
Arcane Mutators can be bought on every run and affect enemy behaviour, or provide synergistic gear that scales entire categories of attacks and elemental damage types.
The game features procedurally generated environments, full of hazards, that can be used in the player's favor. Or not so much, leading to an unexpected death by virtue of running face-first into a cactus. Continuously evolving the challenge and revealing layer upon layer of Black Dragon Mage's game world.
With a variety of staves, spells, mutators and abilities, players can customize their playstyle and experiment with unique combinations to grow in power. In true roguelite fashion, some loadouts are equippable forever, whilst Mutators only drop during runs and need to be picked carefully using the in-world gold currency. Outside of runs, the aethereal elemental currencies can be invested into unlocks and upgrades.
A mini-quest system offers long-term motivation
Black Dragon Mage launches with 52 achievements of varying levels of challenge, most of which are tied to a quest system that provides further rewards with every completed quest.
10 supported languages
Black Dragon Mage is available in English, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional) and Brazilian Portuguese.
The Spanish translation is handled by Adrián Marinero Garcia, a Spanish (es-ES) Game Localization Specialist whose attentive work can be found in indie gems such as Vampire Survivors, Cryptmaster, SULFUR, Mouthwashing or Sorry We're Closed, and bigger titles such as Throne and Liberty or Overwatch 2.
Gripping original hybrid-orchestral OST & handmade sound design
The soundtrack is entirely original, written and produced by datablob in a hybrid-orchestral style with pounding war drums, chanting choirs and dramatic cinematic strings.
The triumphant title theme was contributed by independent composer and producer Zach Goodfellow.
Early Access starting on Dec 4th with a Launch Discount of 20%
"Launching in Early Access allows me to shape the game's future with crucial player input on the priority of roadmap features," said datablob, the game's developer. "Player feedback will guide balancing and the focus of further dev work, while I continue adding new content and expand the already very enjoyable foundation of the game."
Black Dragon Mage will be available in Early Access on Steam starting December 4, 2024.
Players are encouraged to join the community, share feedback, and contribute to the game's ongoing development.
For more information, visit the Black Dragon Mage Steam page.
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🐉 Early Access Launch Imminent 🐉
- Launch Date: December 4, 2024
- Pricing: $5.99 / €5.89 (20% off during launch week!)
- Platforms:
- Windows
- Linux (via Proton)
- Fully optimized for Steam Deck (developed with Deck in mind since day one!)
- Control Options:
- Full controller support
- Keyboard & Mouse
- Languages:
- English, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), and Brazilian Portuguese
🌟 What’s Included at Launch?
- 2 badass Mages
- 2 epic Dragons
- 2 massive, infinitely scaling Maps (each with their own bullet-hell-style Boss!)
- 5+ evolvable Active Spells, additional Passives
- 6 customizable Main Weapon Loadouts
- Over 100 Items/Upgrades total
- ...and so many surprises waiting to be discovered!
Get ready to unleash magical chaos and soar into battle! 🧙♂️
About datablob studio
datablob is an independent solo game developer from Germany, specializing in action-packed, retro-inspired games with lots of "juice" and satisfying UX feedback. With a passion for creating synaesthetic experiences that draw from his broad interests in creating music, visual effects, algorithmic worlds and fluid animation, datablob works hard to deliver cohesive experiences that resonate with people worldwide.