Start a new save of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim today and you could still be playing it in 2036. That’s not a joke about scope creep. That’s the actual staying power of a game that has spent its entire life inspiring other people’s dragons.
Skyrim is the game you keep in your back pocket. Mods land for it every week, and total conversion mods can turn it into a different game altogether, often without much work on your end.
But Skyrim is a modern open-world RPG through and through. There’s a whole other appetite it doesn’t scratch, and Steam is where you go to scratch it.
A turn-based RPG dressed like 1992
Tuoni is going for an older Ultima look while borrowing motifs from Skyrim. It’s turn-based, and the pitch is retro PC gaming filtered through modern sensibilities.
You explore a world drawn from Finnish folklore, working toward Tuoni itself, the land of the dead the game is named after. Everything is procedurally generated. The combat wants to be “tactical and unforgiving.”
There are no set classes. You roam freely while you chase the quest.
Two modes, and one of them doesn’t forgive you
Adventure mode records your progress with checkpoints. Traditional mode means a death sends you back to the very beginning.
The CRT filter is on by default and can be switched off if you’d rather not squint through scanlines. It’s baked into the aesthetic on purpose, meant to evoke classic PC RPGs.
What the studio says it built
Here’s how Old Dog describes the game: “A turn-based Roguelike RPG set in a mythic northern wilderness. Explore procedurally generated lands, battle eerie folkloric creatures, and craft powerful builds on your journey to the land of the dead. Experiment with diverse playstyles in a richly tactical, old-school-inspired adventure.”
The demo is out, the game isn’t
Tuoni is listed as “coming soon” with no release date. The demo landed in late July and is available now.
The studio pegs it at “1-3 hours” of content. Your saves won’t carry over: “This demo is a customized package of content that roughly translates to Act 1 of the full game. Existing Demo content will be extended and possibly altered in the full game.”
The team is collecting feedback on this build and points players toward their Discord server. So the version you play now is the version you get to complain about, which is more than most demos offer.
