Roadwarden

Played on Linux | ~50 hours (2 playthroughs) Roadwarden is a brilliant narrative RPG that blends text-driven gameplay with deep player agency. Though made in Ren’Py, this is no visual novel, it’s a fully realised RPG with exploration, choices, and consequences that shape the world around you. Set in a harsh, melancholic landscape, the game offers a rare opportunity to truly impact the world. Your actions can bring hope and stability, or inversely, chaos and ruin. There are clear good or evil actions, and those choices matter. From weary innkeepers to desperate villagers and mysterious scholars, the cast is unforgettable, with around 30-40 fleshed out individuals. Each NPC feels alive, with rich backstories and evolving relationships. These people don’t just serve quests, they respond to your decisions, and some fates are in your hands. The pixel graphics are evocative. The writing is sharp and immersive, with intricate lore and event chains that unfold naturally. It's a world that breathes, remembers, and reacts. Though there's no Roadwarden 2 in sight, I’m eager to explore Windy Meadow, set in the same universe. Roadwarden is a quiet masterpiece, bleak, beautiful, and full of soul. Definitely one of the better games I have played this year.

Finished this last year and have been searching for games like it since. Just a really solid text-based adventure with a great vibe and setting.

Love this game. Amazing world building and storytelling, and so much replay value.

Fantastic game, lots of choices and very replayable.

gotta love any game that adds archaic animal words to your vocabulary. palfrey for life

a bit meh. I expected more fun and shop interactions. so far, it's a story game, a puzzle, a "help this and that there and then". still enjoyed the atmosphere

Incredibly quaint little game, beautifly written. You never feel completely in control of the environment, you'll find yourself avoiding or retreating from fights more often than finishing them. Because your options are mostly connected to information you manage to gather and not some "stat" getting higher, progression feels natural and never like a grind. Guitar and synth soundtrack fits surprisingly well in a medieval setting.

Difficult but not impossible text-based rpg set in a fantasy realm with plenty of places to explore and mysteries to unravel, as you take on a job as a Roadwarden - a traveling fixer who helps, hinders, or harms depending on how you decide to play. Your motivations and background come with options, your actions have consequences, there are lots of ways to die, and the whole of the game is permeated with a pleasant sort of melancholy. There's lots of see and do, and multiple playthroughs are needed to try everything. Good soundtrack, too.

great setting, great writing, engaging mechanics and plotlines, cute graphics, great game

Challenging and immersive old-school interactive fiction. It's like living in a fantasy novel. But, the game gives you a time limit, and going in without knowing anything, you are likely to finish without solving many of the mysteries. START IN "EASY MODE" WITH UNLIMITED DAYS. Otherwise, the ending may disappoint. I may return to this game at some point, and the writing is lovely, but I ended up a bit frustrated. Still, it was all of four dollars. Definitely an indie gem, but damn, the defaults are rough.

Brilliant, beautiful experience with one of the most compelling stories I've ever seen in a game. Can't recommend it enough!

Fantastic game! The world building is amazing. Couldn't put the game down! Would highly recommend playing if you are looking for an amazing story-driven game!

Good game if you like text based RPG's. World is interesting and the story is captivating. I like the segments where we need to literally type down what action to do.

music, writing, and pixel art are amazing it's easy to lose track of time and i mean that in the best possible way 10/10

A beautiful text-based game that reminds me of old RPG books. Very well written, intricate, with incredible depth. I suppose one could spend 10 times the hours I've spent on it and still discover new things. Recommended!

A complex choose your own adventure style narrative game that is the best in its genre I've played, while still falling prey to the usual pitfalls. I really enjoyed the role of the Roadwarden, sent by the nearest hub of civilisation to "tame" the wild North - getting to know different settlements, the people in them and their relationships to each other. I was lost in that world for several nights but as I progressed and started wrapping up most of the story's loose ends it all felt a little anticlimactic and it was disappointing to encounter storylines I simply couldn't finish because i'd accessed them too early or didn't have the right item at the right time. It's well and good to require a thorough investigation to get the best outcome for a quest, but often the flag checks for various challenges were excessive and a compelling argument had zero value because you hadn't found a less important piece of information. Still, the minimalist pixel art stylings were comfortable and quaint and i'm better off for the experience even if I don't want to return to 100% it.

really good! its addictive once you get going. nice presentation and music. the RPG mechanics are a bit rough so it was very satisfying to eke out a survival. i spent too much time faffing around so when day 40 hit i was like 80% done with every main quest -- disappointing, but i did reload an older save to see some of the conclusions at least. definitely worth your time!

Like most well designed text-based adventures, Roadwarden has fundamentally simple systems that blossom out into a network of all kinds of choice and chance, making for a truly unique and entertaining experience. Side note: People bitching about "unrealistic LGBTQ+ rep" should keep in mind this is a FANTASY world where christianity and other bigoted religions don't exist. People aren't naturally homophobic, look at literally any ancient culture lmfao.

yoooo this slapped. There's a lot of reading (it's very well written!) and the art is beautiful. All characters felt and I do not think I'm smart enough to do everything I needed to in 40 days lmao

Phenomenal. Bought for myself and already bought as a present for two people.

Really well told Man Vs Nature text-based adventure in a unique world that I would like to see more of. You travel the roads as a simple Roadwarden, you're not throwing thunderbolts or killing dragons, you're talking to people and solving their problems. Relies on simple artwork and text descriptions so it leaves a lot to the imagination, which I found to be more immersive than if there were character portraits etc.

[spoiler]Foggy, if you're reading this: I am so sorry, I just got really busy and forgot. Hope you can heal and rebuild. Sending thoughts and prayers.[/spoiler]

fantastic, quite witcher-esque with a lot of freedom

[b]A Soul-Crushing Odyssey… Trapped in a Brick of Text[/b] Alright, first things first—this game had me at concept. Fantasy choose-your-own-adventure? Pixel art? That grimy, boots-on-the-road vibe? I was [i]in[/i]. Childhood fantasy books, but grown up and sad? Inject it. But then… I played it. [b]Non.[/b] This game isn’t here to entertain. It’s here to stare into your soul and whisper: [i]“Hope is dead. Also, you need to wash your clothes again.”[/i] The writing? Heavy. The tone? Heavier. Every line is dense, emotionally draining, and determined to bury you in existential dread. You want to take a break and come back later? Forget it. You’ll return like a concussed pilgrim trying to finish someone else’s diary. And the pacing? Glacial. This isn’t a quick dip—it’s a full-body immersion in a [i]melancholy ice bath[/i]. Progress feels like punishment. I didn’t feel like a hero. I felt like a civil servant with trench foot and a sword. That said—the atmosphere [i]slaps[/i]. You [i]feel[/i] the weight. The isolation. The slow erosion of joy. Maybe that’s your thing. But if you came for narrative momentum or emotional payoff? Come sit with me under this threadbare blanket. I’m still waiting for it. [b]Final Verdict:[/b] ✅ Gorgeous pixel art soaked in mood ✅ Immaculate world-building, if you’re into spiritual frostbite ❌ Dialogue heavier than a priest’s final sermon ❌ Pacing that makes death look fast This could’ve been a haunting epic. Instead, it’s a poetic punishment with goat lore. Nah, mate. I’ll be outside, smoking my last cigarette, whispering to the stars: [i]“I just wanted to go on an adventure.”[/i]

需要一会儿进入角色，但是一旦开始就很让人着迷，无论是剧情【配乐还是人物塑造，我很喜欢！

Hail to thee Roadwarden, organizer of villages and creator of stories. You are the Roadwarden, an adventurer tasked by the far away Merchant's Guild to tame the populace of the wild Peninsula and petition/force/coerce them back into the folds of commerce. Or maybe you won't, since the Guild has given you relatively little information, even less equipment, and eerily no one quite seems to know what happened to the previous Roadwarden who had your exact same duty. But a job's a job. So whatever your motive, you'll have to move quickly to tame the dangerous path from forest to coast. The narrative of this story is engaging if a little highfalutin. Every village feels believable with memorable characters ranging from archaic to sinister. Half the journey is choosing how to interact with groups you meet: who you choose to help and who you choose to ignore. The other half is simply finding out where to go on the road. Who should you trust? Where precisely should you wander? Your choices will create who you eventually become; the woebegone hero, manipulative pragmatist or anything in between. Be careful and good luck out there stranger. And don't underestimate the road.

Very engrossing RPG! It is very well put together: all your decisions have logical outcomes and everything follows from what you know. Yet, you need delicacy to achieve the outcomes you want. Past a certain point I started setting and restarting saved because I had invested too much to let it all go to waste, which hurt immersion.

My exact cup of tea, just finished my first run (mostly to see ow the endign looks like)

I played this game over two years ago and haven't been able to get it out of my head since.

A chill text adventure until it wasn't. Highly recommend!

I finished this game two years ago and still think about my time with it.

[spoiler] i got the bad ending because of my personal stance on necromancy games :( should probably have gone looking deeper into that quest [/spoiler]

"Ay iss a great game for using yer THINKER!" - The Scavenger

Rich and well-constructed.

This is a solid game, very awesome for low-key DnD-type of play through!

So simple yet so effective. I adore this game.

I will tell you that this is one my favourite games of all time. And, that I ask you to play it. Make of this as you will.

Really fun text-based game.

What a fantastic game.

Amazing writing!! Keep it up!

Fun

I liked it

hell ye