Runic Games, the studio who brought us FATE and the Torchlight games are now changing up their style completely with this new reveal: Hob. Used to making action-RPGs, the studio’s reveal video for Hob shows a different kind of game featuring full-on exploration.
Hob puts you in the shoes of a strange character in an unknown land. Well, planet, really. All seems peaceful on the surface, but as you move along, you discover the dangerous machines that hide underneath. In order to advance in the game, you must discover this endangered planet, learn how to survive, gain skill points and work with nature. And do all that with no loading screens.
“There is no dialogue in the game. There are no NPCs that say anything. There’s barely interface on-screen at all. There’s a huge process of discovery and learning that is non-verbal,” says Runic Games CEO Max Schaefer to Polygon.
There will be problems and puzzles to solve along the game, and some battles will come your way, but the main focus of the game remains exploration.
The game will be present at PAX Prime in Seattle from August 28th to the 31st. Until then, all that is known is that Hob will be released on PC and gaming consoles. Nothing else was specified.
A little bit about Runic Games
Runic Games was founded by brothers Max and Eric Schaefer, along with Travis Baldree. Before creating Runic Games, they had worked on projects such as the first two Diablo from Blizzard, as well as Hellgate: London and Mythos from Flagship.
Their speciality has been the action-RPG, and they worked with that on their hack-n-slash Torchlight games. However, co-founders Eric Schaefer and Travis Baldree left Runic Games to create their own company, Double Damage Games.
That does not mean that Runic Games fell apart, though. Hob is the story of how this company is picking itself back up again.
