The Crash Site
A landing pad in a bowl of broken rock, and the last quiet place on the way north.
Single-player sci-fi action RPG
AURALITH
Forge a blade from this world, and the world comes with it.
The first colonists wrote home about breakthroughs no one had seen before. Then, one by one, the settlements stopped answering. Their towers still stand under Kestrel's rings, most of them dark, and in the north a column of light burns that no one can explain. No one who carries this world's crystal stays the same.
First look
In-engine footage.
The world
The Fracture Basin
Humanity crossed deep space to claim this world. Then its colonies stopped answering.
Lore
What the colonies found
- I
The Find
A resource boom carried humanity into deep space. One world mattered more than the rest, rich in a material that physics cannot fully explain and that changes the people who carry it.
- II
The Rush
Factions raced to claim it. The first colonists sent home word of breakthroughs no one had seen before.
- III
The Silence
The deeper they dug, the worse the calls between settlements became. Then the calls stopped.
- IV
The Freeholds
The colonies broke apart. What survived became Freeholds: enclaves, raiders, tinkerers and isolationists, each holding its ground on its own terms.
- V
Landfall
You land at a crash site in the Fracture Basin. To the north, a column of light stands on the horizon.
Places
The road north
The Breach
It is waking up. Nobody knows what it is, or what sealing it will do.
Arms
Forged from the basin
Every weapon is cut from the planet's crystal, and carries its colour into the fight.
Slow to rise. When it lands, the earth shakes.
Aetherite teal
Vesperite violet
Solvar amber
Combat
Cut your way north.
Freehold bands hold every rise between the camp and the light, and the crystal you need sits behind them.
The Freehold
A Freehold of your own.
Raise it from the landing pad up. Whoever you win over keeps its stations running while you're gone.
At the Breach
The Breach Warden
A Freehold warrior in gold, standing between you and the light.
What's next
Deeper In
The backer build ends at the Breach. Four more zones are planned past it, and the campaign decides where that work begins.
- 01Backer build
Fracture Basin
Crash debris and split rock, where the first colonies failed.
- 02Planned
Iron Expanse
Open plains and industrial ruins, held by organised Freehold factions.
- 03Planned
Conduction Wilds
Alien growth shot through with crystal, and the Ascendants who hunt there.
- 04Planned
Shattered Spine
Sheer rock with structures sunk into it, and elite Ascendants on the heights.
- 05Planned
Core Zone
The source of the anomalies, where reality stops behaving the same way twice.
Also planned
New arms
Polearm, bow, sword and shield, and greatsword join the four you know, with more weapons for each of them.
The Ascendants
Humans who believe the crystal is the next step for humanity, and chase it further than anyone.
Deeper synchronisation
The deeper you go, the more of the crystal's power answers to you.
A Freehold that rises
Five tiers of building, from salvaged scrap to structures shaped like the planet itself.
World bosses
One in every zone, standing on the road deeper and guarding its rarest crystal.
The full score
An original score, with a sound of its own for every zone.
All planned for the full game, targeted for December 2028, and none of it is in the backer build. The campaign's goal and stretch goals set what gets built first.
Kickstarter
The Backer Build
Back the campaign to play the road from the crash site to the Breach.
- The whole route, from the crash site to the Breach Warden
- All four weapon types, the camp and its Forge
- Tier
- Pathfinder, $35
- Arrives
- Early 2027
Planned, and confirmed when the campaign launches.
An early build. Some actions have no sound yet, some icons are placeholders, and the performance pass is still ahead. Windows PC, with an RTX graphics card recommended.
FAQ
Is there a free demo?
Not during the campaign. The playable slice is a reward for backers. A polished public demo comes later, after the audio and performance pass.
Is it single-player?
Yes.
What does it run on?
Windows PC. An RTX graphics card is recommended.
How far along is it?
The backer build covers the road from the crash site to the Breach, with the camp, the Forge and four weapon types. Sound for each weapon and combat music are in. The full score, the rest of the sound design and a performance pass are still ahead.
Who is making it?
One developer, under the studio name Empowered Recordings.
Follow
Follow the light north.
Join the Discord to watch it take shape, and follow on Kickstarter to hear when the campaign opens. The Steam page is on its way.
News and press: playauralith@gmail.com