Voyage to Farland
| Voyage to Farland | |
|---|---|
| Stable game | |
| Developer | P.A. Casey (crow) |
| Theme | Fantasy |
| Influences | Shiren the Wanderer |
| Released | Jun 5, 2010 (1.0) |
| Updated | Jun 30, 2014 (2.2.8) |
| Licensing | Closed Source |
| P. Language | C, Java |
| Platforms | Android, Windows, Linux, OSX, Chrome |
| Interface | Touchscreen, Keyboard |
| Game Length | ~4 hours (with no deaths) |
| Official site of Voyage to Farland | |
Voyage to Farland is a roguelike heavily influenced by the Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer games. Initially released as a Nintendo DS homebrew game, Voyage to Farland now has releases for Android, Windows, Linux, Mac OSX and as a web app (native client) available on the Chrome Web Store.
Description
Voyage to Farland is a fantasy roguelike, but deviates from standard fantasy themes into the quirky. Some features are:
- An introductory dungeon with items pre-identified
- A puzzle dungeon
- Three bonus dungeons unlocked after certain events (The Path of No Return: more hardcore dungeon with herbs, scrolls, pouches and beads unidentified from the start, and The Vial Trial: a specialty dungeon strewn with plenty of Empty Vials for capturing monsters and morphing into them to utilize their special attacks and abilities, and The Bot Subplot)
- A full (if unconventional) soundtrack
- A Creature Menagerie for viewing all the monsters you've vanquished, NPCs you've met
- Three NPCs you can recruit to fight alongside you
- A menu-based inventory system for using items
- Permadeath
- Game save/restore, including an Auto-save feature for OS interruptions (phone calls, etc.)
- Touch screen support
Voyage to Farland is reported to work on most recent Android devices with a fairly powerful CPU. Tested on Nexus One, Nexus 7, Droid, Droid X, Incredible, Galaxy Tab, Kindle Fire, ASUS Transformer Prime with ICS.
The PC version has been tested on Windows XP/Vista/7, Linux version tested on Ubuntu Linux. Both require Java 1.6 runtime or higher. The Chrome version tested on Windows Vista and Ubuntu Linux with Chrome version 26.
Story
You're a homeless wanderer searching for your long lost sister. But to find her you must first prove your resolve in a quest through the unforgiving Iya Gorge to find an evil witch that kidnapped children from the village.
To succeed, you'll have to overcome pesky catapult driving felines, long-dead vampires, creepy mask wearing heads and other strange monsters with even stranger powers. Along the way you'll meet creatures that will help you fight, including a wise-cracking owl and a mysterious outcast "monster". You'll need all the weapons at your disposal: healing herbs, powerful shields and blades, magical beads and pouches and a curious cursed vial you'll use to capture a monster's soul and become the monster, making use of its special powers.
With each defeat, your hero will have to start all over. But you, the player, will become more cunning and get a bit further in your quest.
Defeat the Spirit Witch and the Path of No Return will open, leading to ancient ruins and a haunted castle beyond....
How far can you get in Voyage to Farland?
Download and Installation instructions
Android version
Voyage to Farland for Android can be downloaded from the Android Market. Search for 'Voyage to Farland' or 'roguelike' or use this market link:
http://market.android.com/details?id=com.peculiar_games.pvefc
Windows, Linux and Mac versions
Voyage to Farland is available on Desura, IndieGameStand, Itch.io and via the Humble Store. You can find links on the Peculiar Games website:
http://www.peculiar-games.com/
There are Windows, Linux and Mac OSX demo versions here:
Chrome version
Now available in the Chrome Web Store as a "web app" (actually a packaged Native Client app that should run in the Windows, Linux and Mac versions of Chrome).
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/voyage-to-farland/hbiboffmikccokhcedbglilkgccacjcj
How to Play
Voyage to Farland follows the Mystery Dungeon system: movement via an onscreen DPAD, attack/select button, Inventory button, etc. Full documentation is provided in the game (accessed with the Android device's MENU button).
For the desktop versions, there are a minimal set of control keys that can be remapped. A controller-to-key tool (e.g. Joy2Key) can be used to play using a controller. Built in controller support is planned for a future update.
Character stats
Basic character stats are HP (Hit Points), FULLNESS (inverse of hunger), Attack Power, Defense Power, Level and Experience. HP and FULLNESS are displayed at the top of the screen, both numerically and with bar graphs. Attack Power and Defense Power are based on the currently equipped weapon and shield (accessed in the weapon/shield's item sub-menu as AP and DP). Attack and Defense Power are also modified by the Hero character's current level. Levels are gained when certain experience thresholds are attained.
Your character restores HP gradually through using turns or more quickly by eating healing herbs.
Testimonies and reviews
"I want to stab this game in the face and I can't stop playing it. Everything you like about Shiren and the main dungeon is a 30 minute run. DO IT." - AB
"Fun and Addictive. Great little rogue-like and a perfect introduction to the genre for those who have not played this style of game before." - P
"Very hard. Very addictive. Great fun." - J
"Ist ganz lustig, man kann wirklich viel entdecken.. empfehle am anfang den training lvl zu machen" - Y
"Awesome game! Kinda wish it wasn't so much like real life in the fact that you only get 1 life..." - Z
Website and Video Channel
Info about the game and documentation:
Youtube video channel with gameplay videos (includes some from the original DS homebrew version)