MicroProse Announces Knights of Frontier Valley, a Hardcore Roguelike RPG

[Nomad76]

MicroProse is thrilled to announce its publishing partnership with Adamant Studios for Knights of Frontier Valley, a challenging, old-school-inspired roguelike RPG that brings the depth, danger, and discovery of classic fantasy adventures to a living, breathing digital world.

In a major development for the RPG community, tabletop gaming legend Rob Kuntz—one of the founding pioneers of Dungeons & Dragons—joins the project to bring his unparalleled experience and creative vision to the game.



Rob's influence on tabletop fantasy gaming is immeasurable. This extraordinary collaboration marks a rare moment where the origins of fantasy role-playing meet the cutting edge of indie game development.

As a close friend and collaborator of Gary Gygax, Kuntz co-created the iconic Greyhawk setting, penned some of the earliest D&D modules, and helped lay the foundation for modern RPG storytelling.

Rob Kuntz himself shared his excitement:

"Frontier Valley immediately spoke to me because it captures what I loved about the earliest days of D&D—the thrill of discovery, a world that breathes on its own, and the feeling that every decision matters. This is a world that evolves with the players," said Kuntz. "This is a world that breathes, challenges, and reacts. Knights of Frontier Valley isn't just a game - it's an adventure in the truest sense."

A Living World Shaped by a Master of the Craft
Knights of Frontier Valley offers players an immersive, procedurally generated world filled with danger, faction intrigue, and tough choices—all set within a living, breathing world where days turn to nights, seasons shift, and survival is never guaranteed.

With an original score from world-class composer Kevin Manthei (Neverwinter Nights) and the amazing Rob Kuntz contributing to the game's lore design, world building, and quest structure, players can expect the kind of layered storytelling, organic world creation, and player-driven discovery that defined the golden age of role-playing.

Key Features:

• Procedurally generated world full of unique characters, factions, dungeons, and mysteries waiting to be uncovered.
• Gridless, turn-based battles where positioning and tactics matter - or auto-resolve for faster play.
• Deep survival mechanics, including hunger, thirst, injuries, and weather in a game where the frontier is as dangerous as the monsters lurking within it.
• Robust character customization with multiple classes, professions, and skill sets to shape your hero or villain's journey.
• A living world with working NPCs, evolving stories, and no quest markers—only clues to uncover.
• Hand-drawn art, proudly created without generative AI.
• Permanent Consequences - There's no safety net here. Every choice carries weight, and every adventure is unique.

A Historic Collaboration for RPG Fans
"

Having Rob Kuntz lend his creative vision to Knights of Frontier Valley is nothing short of historic," said Chris Ansell, CMO of Microprose. "This is a designer whose fingerprints are on the very foundation of tabletop role-playing. Fans of Dungeons & Dragons, classic CRPGs, and deep strategic role-playing should take notice - this is a game built for you."

A True Indie Gem, Backed by MicroProse and Enriched by a Legend
Created by Martin Menzel, a passionate solo developer using a custom-built engine, Knights of Frontier Valley honors the spirit of classic RPGs while forging its own path into the future. With MicroProse's support and Rob Kuntz's creative guidance, this is more than just a game—it's a love letter to the entire history of role-playing, from the tabletop to the digital age.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[AGlezB]

Procedurally generated world

Created by Martin Menzel, a passionate solo developer using a custom-built engine

No wonder it looks like it was made in the 90's.
And I like to support indie devs but this announcement has so many red flags.

 

[Onasi]

@AGlezB
I dunno, stuff like Underrail and Knights of the Chalice turned out pretty damn good.

 

[Nomad76]

No wonder it looks like it was made in the 90's.
And I like to support indie devs but this announcement has so many red flags.

The graphics, UI, and all visuals can be improved. However, success mostly depends on the gameplay and story.

 

[AGlezB]

@AGlezB
I dunno, stuff like Underrail and Knights of the Chalice turned out pretty damn good.

The graphics, UI, and all visuals can be improved. However, success mostly depends on the gameplay and story.

You might not have an accurate picture of how hard it is to make a good game engine. And for a solo dev the time you spend developing a game engine is time you're not spending develping a game even if you intend to reuse the engine on future games because there is no guarantee that your first game will be sucessful enough to allow you to continue development.

I haven't played Knights of the Chalice but I can see in the Steam page that it was released almost 16 years ago and it only has 86 reviews, meaning it didn't sell no matter how good it's supposed to be.
Underrail I've played a lot and it's great and it did a lot better commercially but Martin Menzel is not Dejan Radišić so there is no guarantee his engine will be half as stable as Underrail's.

Just to be clear: Knights of Frontier Valley might end up being the indie GotY. Might. And even if it doesn't release as a messed up bugfest it still might not be comercially sucessful.

 

[Onasi]

haven't played Knights of the Chalice but I can see in the Steam page that it was released almost 16 years ago and it only has 86 reviews, meaning it didn't sell no matter how good it's supposed to be.

1. There is a KotC2 2.
2. It didn’t sell on Steam because the vast majority of people into it bought it directly from devs site. It’s a very autistic game. The appeal is very limited. My point is just the fact that making an engine when you don’t strive for advanced tech is, while not easy, eminently doable.

 

[tfp]

No wonder it looks like it was made in the 90's.
And I like to support indie devs but this announcement has so many red flags.

It is MicroProse, the game looks really new vs what I remember them creating in the past.

 

[AGlezB]

There is a KotC2 2.

Sitting at 99 reviews after nearly 3 years. Definitely not a commercial success.

It didn’t sell on Steam because the vast majority of people into it bought it directly from devs site

Understandable for a game released in 2009. Not the case for KotC 2: if it didn't sell well on Steam it didn't sell well. Period.

making an engine when you don’t strive for advanced tech is, while not easy, eminently doable

Everything in software development is doable if you spend enough time and/or money on it but you have to have a very good reason not to use any of the engines commercially available today, like living in a blacklisted country where you can't legally licence one and even in that case you have options like Godot which is both open source and MIT licensed. When I hear "custom-built engine" what I'm actually hearing most of the time is "the dev either has no idea what he/she is doing or knows and doesn't care". Big red freaking flag.