For those looking to take a break from the violence and conquest of the strategy genre and are ready to put up their crown for something new, a solution has presented itself. Non-violent strategy game Sainthood has launched for both Steam and XBOX today.
Sainthood is a time-based management and strategy game, set in the 17th century, that allows players to take on the role of a nun who is stranded on an island off the coast of the Kingdom of Kongo. While on the island, players will have 33 days to complete their journey that involves serving the local community and increasing their faith. As each day passes, players will have to plot their path around the community on an illustrated grid map. However, each tile that is stepped on costs 15 minutes of in-game time.
While traversing through the small map, players will be able to find and free the “Ehri,” which are Angel Spirits. Collecting Ehri will help in building upgrades. However, at night, evil spirits called “Shetani” will emerge that must be avoided and any contact with these spirits will result in them devouring your faith.
Players will need to balance their time between volunteer work, discovering sacred artifacts, unveiling the mysteries of the island, and be able to maintain and grow their faith through charity, prayer, and reflection. While doing all of this, players will be introduced to, and learn, a little about the culture and history of Kongo in addition to a number of saints from Africa and the rest of the world.
Developed by filmmaker Bisong Taiwo, he explains his reason for creating the Catholic-themed strategy game,
“Sainthood has been a labor of love and I’m incredibly moved by the support we’ve received from early players. We wanted to create a game where players focus on serving others, which feels rare in gaming today. Seeing it resonate with players around the world is inspiring.”
The game was designed to provide a cozy and relaxing gameplay experience that promotes kindness with personal and spiritual growth as players focus on serving and helping others rather than the standard conquer and rule of other strategy games. With multiple endings, the game offers replayability as you go on to collect Artifacts, unlock memory fragments, and even unlock up to 25 stained glass paintings depicting real saints while being lulled into serenity by the game’s Gregorian chant-inspired soundtrack.
Sainthood is available now on Steam and XBOX for $9.99. The Steam version is currently 10% off for $8.99 until November 8th.
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