Although “Game of Thrones” is over on HBO, the world of George R.R. Martin is still fertile ground for storytelling. With “Game of Thrones: Tale of Crows,” Devolver Digital and That Silly Studio mines the history of Night’s Watch.
The military order dedicated to protecting the Wall and Seven Kingdoms has its own lore, and through the Apple Arcade game, players can explore it. Don’t expect a quick-twitch hack and slasher or a tense tactical game though, “Tale of Crows” is described as a real-time idle game.
Developer Jake Hollands says players take on the role of several Lord Commanders and make decisions on how to run the Night’s Watch. Players make a choice, send a raven and have to wait in real time to see the results of their actions. Players aren’t supposed to babysit the game and they can go about their day as “Tale of Crows” works in the background. The game will notify players once the action is finished.
Once the notification is on, players don’t have to respond immediately. They can run errands and pick up and play at their leisure. Hollands says when played casually, the “Tale of Crows” campaign wraps up in one to two weeks.
What makes the title compelling is that Hollands and his team created a dynamic narrative of 10 core stories. Decisions create branching narratives. It’s sort of like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel built for iOS devices. A Lord Commander can face an uprising and poor decisions can mean he’s overthrown, and players will continue the campaign as the usurper. Smart decisions may mean the defeat of the insurrection and a different outcome.
Players can play a cynical and jaded lord commander or a wise and honest one. They have agency in this interactive adventure.
Hard-core fans wanting to know if any of the stories are canon will find some elements are grounded in the books or TV show. Hollands says they took names and some stories mentioned in the main series and elaborate on them. The developers buy themselves some breathing room with a framing device.
The campaign is tale told by a man in a pub. Hollands says the reliability of the narrator is in question, so what he is saying may or may not be true. If they go through the game once, players unlock a second narrator who tells the history through another lens.
Because “Tale of Crows” has basis in Martin’s mythology, fans with detailed knowledge of the show and books will have a leg up. They’ll also have more appreciation for what the developer is trying to do.
Despite that fact, Hollands says his team tried to build a game that’s accessible to fans of the show and newcomers — the small handful — who know nothing about the franchise. It’s set up to be an easy way for the uninitiated to delve into the rich history of the gripping fantasy series.
