Turn heroes into god-beast fodder in this city builder influenced by Black & White and Cult Of The Lamb

Gold Gold! Adventure? Gold!

Gold Gold Adventure Gold is a game that relies on raw enthusiasm and moxie to power you through a blizzard of confusing references. It boldly describes itself as a "Cult-of-the-Lamb-lite, Rimworld-lite, Majesty-like mixed with Black & White with a pinch of Against the Storm". Whoa there, pardner, save a few subgenres for the rest of us! I think that's half the New & Trending keywords on Steam in one sentence. If you're mystified, best watch the announcement trailer - it paints a clearer picture, though it does involve a startling amount of cartoon decapitation and dismemberment.

Still mystified? I guess I'd better write the rest of this article, then. In this "reverse RPG / city builder / pet game", you must (deep breath) construct a settlement around a dungeon to attract adventurers who'll earn you gold with which to buy food for your horrible god-beast pet.

Adventurers come in all shapes and sizes, from undead to mothmen, all represented as pleasantly laconic and fatalistic-seeming 2D anime sprites. You'll lure them to your town with promises of "gold or glory", and assign them quests such as exploration, defending areas, or going after specific munsters. You can let them battle the menagerie by themselves, or intervene and help them secure items and skills. It sounds like you shouldn't let them get too powerful, for "each level brings them one step closer towards a forbidden evolution".

When not enticing and managing adventurers, you'll tend to a growing fantasy-medieval economy based on farming or monster-slaying. The blurb cautions that heroes might try to steer your town's direction, should you let up your Sauron-like surveillance for but a single moment. "Your units have a life of their own - they might form parties, fund their own buildings, or give each other quests," it warns. "Watch your dark alleys closely!" I always do, game.

And then there's the matter of your pet god-beast, which must be fed and pampered to stop it running amok. "It might be wise to teach it what is right and wrong, before it grows too big to care about your opinions," explains the blurb. "Raise it, teach it spells or tricks, pet it, brush it, and if necessary discipline it. You might find that it becomes a trusted companion upon your journey!" That "might" has a definite edge to it. I wonder if it'll be like in Black & White, where you and your Creature could end up with opposing moral alignments. If necessary, you can kill two birds with one stone and feed misbehaving heroes to your god-beast.

Let me try for a different bundle of references and parallels: this is like you're actually running Sanctuary in Diablo, managing those rapscallion dungeon-delvers while also catsitting one of the Prime Evils. The cute-but-grisly visuals remind me of the nastier magic girl animes, like Madoka Magica. I'm quite interested, in short. There’s no release date yet, but you can read more on Steam.