THE 7TH CITADEL

In a collapsing world, we join Bruno Sautter to find a Citadel of one’s own

Words by Christopher John Eggett

We were supposed to be safe inside the citadel. While the realm has been at war for more than 70 years, you are relatively secure within its grounds where you, as a slave gardener, tend to the vicious plants of the necrodruids. These plants are one of the few things keeping your world from falling into the earth. For there are threats out there between these fortress states in the form of giant earth-rending worms, sinking these bastions one by one.

But today, your world is crumbling, and the citadel is falling. Making a brave escape leads you out into the wild. You didn’t want to be a leader, but it seems that you’ve become one anyway, and it’s down to you to try and make a safe haven out here in the unknown lands spanning the falling cities, roaming worms, and the harsh environment.

And that’s where we start in The 7th Citadel, the spiritual sequel to the modern cursedexpedition classic that is The 7th Continent. It’s a different setting to the cursed island you find yourself on in the previous game from Serious Poulp, and Bruno Sautter (the designer of the game alongside Ludovic Roudy) is here to take us on a tour of this new fantasy world.

“Apart from the exploration similarities [to The 7th Continent], it’s a completely new game because it’s a new universe,” says Sautter, “it’s a post-apocalyptic medieval fantasy setting in which you play as a slave gardener who has just escaped the citadel of the necrodruid Ninidazir to find themselves confronted with an even greater threat that you will have to fight against through many hours of play. We designed the world completely from scratch, and we wanted to avoid the goblins and trolls and the Lord of the Rings kind of stuff. This is a darker world.”

And it’s a weirder world too – one that invites exploration for the potential thousand hours of gameplay. Those many hours are one of the things we all enjoyed about The 7th Continent – the world was huge and endless feeling, there were hours of play in the box to rummage through and discover. This made for a strange experience while playing – it was almost better to leave parts of the map unknown, because the game would then retain its draw. The mysterious continent is less mysterious when you’ve seen it all.

Here then we’re in for a different experience. The setting you’re exploring is the Collapsing Lands, a place where you will be surviving, and beyond that, thriving. This last part is the most compelling for those who are used to expiring on far shores.