Vampires, much like any good horror icon, never die off completely. Even after the Twilight series earned them some bad press, people are still enchanted by their otherworldly nature. While many game developers have attempted to funnel this interest into an immersive, playable experience, few have seen success. Luckily, that hasn’t stopped the team at Clockwork Throne from trying their hand at the genre with their new MMO project, Shadow’s Kiss.
Drawing inspiration from other games with a strong focus on player-driven content, Clockwork Throne has brought the game to Kickstarter. Here they hope to foster a community of players who are as passionate about their project as they are. Based on how quickly they surpassed their initial $25,000 funding goal, I’d say they’ve come to the right place.
Clockwork Throne Lead Designer, Thomas Sitch describes the game as “a vampire Game of Thrones.” While Shadow’s Kiss will feature traditional MMO mechanics like quests and combat, it will also focus heavily on player’s growing their influence among vampire society. Players decide how they’d like to cooperate or compete within the complex social order of the fictional San Cipriano. Along the way they can acquire allies or enemies depending on their approach.
Roleplay Your Way
The player-lead narrative structure of Shadow’s Kiss reflects its deep LARP roots. At character creation, players decide not only how they will look, but also what their interests and motivation are in the world. From there they are free to roleplay their ideal creature of the night in a supernatural gothic setting. The graphics aren’t groundbreaking, but do a capable job of giving players a world to live out their stories. Vampire fans have done more with less in the past.
With their base funding goal already achieved, the team is hoping to raise enough additional funds to include more playable creatures beyond vampires. This includes a playable werewolf faction at the highest funding tier ($250,000). Shadow’s Kiss offers its community the game they’ve been waiting for since Vampire the Masquerade. Now they just have to make sure everyone knows about it.
