Featuring a lovely, semi-realistic, hand-painted European comic-book look and offering a story-driven campaign on the medieval shores of the North Sea coast, The Great Whale Road is one impressive strategy/RPG hybrid. You select a culture - only the Danes are currently available, as the game just entered Early Access - and then set off into the stormy seas. Each year is split in two. Summer is the sailing season, allowing you to seek adventures along the whale road. Winter, on the other hand, is spent at home, managing your settlement and planning for the year ahead.

You'll be confronted with decisions at every turn, no matter if you're sailing the high seas, visiting other settlements, or huddling around your hearth fire in the cold season. This makes the game feel very narrative-driven, as opposed to a pure management game. When a situation escalates into armed conflict you trade blows and nasty axe strikes in turn-based battles on a grid.
Many of the game's mechanics will be further fleshed out along the way, and the Danish culture will be joined by playable Northumbrians, Franks, and Picts. In its current state, The Great Whale Road is already fully playable and lots of fun - and not just for history buffs. Being an early access title, there are certain bugs and only a limited amount of content for now, but the development road map indicates that these flaws will be tackled soon. The full release is expected sometime this winter.

Joachim Sammer, CEO of S...