Ignis Studios, the game development boutique behind the popular Hoplite Hero for iOS and Android, is getting ready to throw down with the big boys. The company has acquired Seed of Lux, a survival MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game) set in the mythical world of Noch. Ignis Studios has recruited game designing experts from World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo to perfect the game for release on PC, Mac, XBox, and Playstation. The theme of the game is simple and succinct – survive the night.

In the world of Noch, you take control of “Lux”, a strange entity composed of pure energy. To roam the world of Noch, your Lux will choose an avatar. Each avatar is a human (or humanlike) individual with unique abilities.  For example, Issac the watchmaker can rewind time and Haze the stormchaser has increased strength in the rain. But the goal is the same for each character – survive, collect loot, say safe in the dark, and most importantly, figure out why you exist in the first place.

Many dangers await in Noch, but also power and wealth to build up your character. Players earn experience points called ‘Lumen’ for upgrading abilities and loot like wood, stone, and metal for building weapons and upgrading your bases. You can battle other players, monsters, and even some ferocious boss creatures in dungeons. And beware the night – visibility decreases and monsters become stronger and bolder.

Attributes

Each characters’ well-being is based on three attributes:

  • Health – fairly self-explanatory here, if you take too much damage, your health goes to zero and your characters dies (only to reawaken back at your camp). However, your acquired goodies remain where you last stood.
  • Hunger – when characters get too hungry, they lose strength and speed. Too much action without replenishment can lead to starvation and your character will deal less damage, take more damage, and all combat actions will be sluggish
  • Fear – fear relates to how your character is perceived by other Lux’s. Killing other player characters puts a dark mark on your avatar and the reward for killing you increases. It also makes your loot and XP easier to steal off your corpse.

Players form bunkers called Gizmos that act as base camps. The Gizmo is your base of operations, where you can harvest materials, hire non-playable characters to your army, and build defenses for your territory. The Gizmo is where you can cash in Lumen for new abilities or put your Lux in a different avatar. It’s these MMO features combined with survivalist scenarios what make Seed of Lux unlike anything that came before it.

Seed of Lux has the potential to bring Ignis Studios to the forefront of game development. Beta testing and development for consoles is underway for this project and pre-ordering will be available soon, but it sure looks like Ignis Studios as a winner on its hands.  By combining the best features of online strategy and survival games, the company has a unique entry sure to please fans of both genres.