Complete release of The Telwynium unveiled for 2027

• Announcements by Sam Amiotte-Beaulieu
• Published:

Bundled four-part 16-color EGA fantasy epic from the creator of The Drifter coming to Steam

Before Dave Lloyd ever wowed us with The Drifter (Adventure Game Hotspot’s Best Adventure Game of 2025), the indie Australian developer had been hard at work on his four-part freeware adventure, The Telwynium. The success of the former won’t prevent the completion of the latter, thankfully, as The Telwynium will be receiving its concluding chapter in 2027. But more than that, the complete game will be repackaged as a singular epic tale with a full commercial release.

Presented as a love letter to the 16-color EGA era – and specifically Sierra titles like the Conquest series – The Telwynium is a “90s fantasy adventure epic” complete with an authentic Roland MT32 soundtrack. You play as Pendar Calden, who narrowly managed to escape his home village of Willows Dene before it was ravaged at the “hands of the shadowfell.” In Book One, “Winter's Dawn,” with the help of the equally powerful and mysterious Autumn-Aldor Dwinn, you “flee to the west, for the White City, Aldarris.” But Pendar and Aldor Dwinn are not alone in their quest, as their party of travelers also consists of the protagonist’s “childhood friends Tani and Witt, the irritable Uplander Otarr Stronghorn, and a colossal Gohl'en of mud and stone.” After an attack on the group in the dead of night ends with Tani being kidnapped, it is up to you to track down whoever is responsible and save your friend. But before the day is done, a mysterious power will awaken in Pendar that could change the fate of the land forever.

In Book Two, “The Summer King,” the aftermath of a betrayal takes you toward “Targoth, south of the Burning Swamp,” on the trail of the monsters who abducted Tani. Equipped now with a new special magical ability, Pendar will have to work together with his allies to rescue her, supported by a most unlikely army of comrades. Book Three, “The Shadow of Spring,” sees “the fellowship from Willows Dene… split asunder” with each member facing “their own peril, with only their wits to guide them against merciless brigands, the living dead, shadowfell, and the witches of Targoth.” That’s as far as the series has got so far, but with the upcoming Book Four, the tale of The Telwynium saga will tie up the loose ends left behind and sally forth to a dramatic conclusion.

Debuting in 2021, The Telwynium is a classic point-and-click adventure presented in “Sierra SCI0 style graphics” but with none of that era’s frustrations. That means not only will there be no “soft-locks or unfair deaths” to worry about, but all gameplay is handled through a single-click interface utilizing different cursor icons rather than a text parser. In keeping with the period-appropriate feeling of authenticity, the game is presented in “glorious 4:3 with a selection of CRT filters.” Set in a world of “lovely cliche fantasy tropes,” it’s a journey filled with unusual characters, medieval-style locations to explore, items to collect and puzzles to solve (either alone or with help). But despite the many surface similarities, Lord of the Rings this is not, so there will be plenty of surprises from a story that promises “the twists and turns you’d expect from the writer of The Drifter.”

Anyone feeling nostalgic for a 90s fantasy epic can download the first three books of The Telwynium right now for free on itch.io. Book One is also available on Steam as a demo for Windows, Mac, and Linux, where the complete game will be released sometime next year.

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