At GDC 2025, I bought an opportunity to play Sunderfolk, an upcoming cooperative turn-based tactical RPG journey that allows you to play a tabletop RPG with your folks with out the necessity to arrange any bodily maps or study a e book of guidelines. Heck, you do not even all need to be in the identical place, as the sport is fully managed by way of gamers’ cell telephones. I had loads of enjoyable enjoying Sunderfolk, appreciating how its approachable construction and easy fight system made for a far simpler set of mechanics to know compared to the likes of Dungeons & Dragons 5e, Pathfinder 2e, or Vampire: The Masquerade 5e. Loads of pal teams who’ve all the time wished to see what all of the fuss is about on the subject of tabletop RPGs however merely do not have the time or cash to leap into the passion are going to search out quite a bit to like with Sunderfolk.
In Sunderfolk, every participant picks from certainly one of six characters: the raven Arcanist is your conventional spellcaster, the bat Bard empowers and heals allies by track, the polar bear Berserker dominates the entrance line with an enormous hammer, the goat Ranger outputs extra injury the farther they’re away from the motion, the weasel Rogue dismantles foes from up shut, and the salamander Pyromancer unleashes fiery explosions. These six characters have been tasked with defending the Arden, a peaceable city the place anthropomorphic animals dwell collectively, from a rising shadowy corruption that’s remodeling beforehand manageable annoyances into monstrous threats.
I opted for the Ranger, whereas two members of developer Secret Door performed alongside me because the Bard and Berserker. Sunderfolk will be performed alone (one participant would simply be controlling a number of characters, akin to Baldur’s Gate 3), however most of my enjoyment got here from strategizing with my teammates and making an attempt to determine the right way to finest pair our distinctive skills collectively to deal with a fight state of affairs. As much as 4 gamers can play at a time in Sunderfolk, and grabbing a bunch of three or 4 appears like the perfect option to play this sport.
Whereas the motion occurred on the TV in entrance of us, we every managed our respective characters with our telephones. Every character has their very own deck of playing cards with distinctive abilities–the Ranger, for instance, had a card that when performed would launch a piercing shot that might hit a number of targets in a line, whereas the Bard had a card that allow them briefly enthral a goal and transfer them to a distinct house on the hexagonal board. There is not any flip order to Sunderfolk, permitting gamers to not solely select what they do on their flip however in what order. My teammates and I’d have a quick back-and-forth to debate our choices, sometimes having somebody cancel their flip within the midst of planning it out in order that another person may go first.
Within the fight part I performed, our goal was to defeat a bunch of dangerous guys who have been being mutated into highly effective monsters, with little timers above their heads letting us know what number of turns have been left earlier than every of their transformations. The devs informed me that Sunderfolk may have fight encounters with loads of different kinds of aims, like defending a degree in opposition to waves of enemies. I am unable to converse to what these different goal sorts are like, however I am curious to play them. A few of the characters have playing cards that felt actually misplaced in a state of affairs that was all about defeating enemies as rapidly as possible–the Ranger had an choice to cease an enemy from transferring after which leapfrog away, for instance–and I ponder if these playing cards would have felt extra satisfying to play when confronted with a distinct kind of goal.
Between missions, all of the gamers return to the hub-like Arden, often leveling up and unlocking new passive perks. It’s on the town the place every participant can unlock new playing cards and customise their deck, speak to NPCs to befriend and/or romance them, and use loot to purchase upgrades to the city that may internet party-wide perks. Throughout this downtime, the motion switches from the massive display screen to every participant’s particular person telephone, permitting folks to do no matter they need (or for somebody to go to the toilet or seize a snack whereas others go work on their card deck or one thing).
My favourite a part of downtime is the choice to call issues. When our occasion completed funding repairs for a bridge, the participant who put essentially the most gold into the undertaking bought to call it, after which, on all of our telephones, that title confirmed up each time certainly one of us visited the bridge. As well as, the NPCs would use that title when speaking in regards to the bridge. There have been different enjoyable examples of this, too, like an NPC asking the Bard to remind her what a particular factor was once more, after which her utilizing the title the dev typed in when my Ranger went to speak to her. It is a small narrative contact, nevertheless it permits you and your folks to not solely construct your group’s model of Arden however craft tales for it too. This method of storytelling extends to different elements of the sport as properly. If one participant romances an NPC, that will likely be mirrored in conversations different gamers have with that NPC, for instance, and that participant will get a singular gameplay perk that pertains to the romance shared between their character and that particular NPC–their connection is usually mirrored within the gameplay.
The story, motion, and characters are all voiced by one actor: Anjali Bhimani. From what I’ve heard to this point, she does a exceptional job, adjusting her cadence, tone, and pitch to present all the key characters their very own voice after which utilizing her pure voice to relate what’s occurring (even throughout fight!) and assist nudge gamers in the fitting path in the event that they want it. This replicates the sensation of enjoying a tabletop RPG with a Sport Grasp whereas guaranteeing nobody on the desk has to truly step up and be the one chargeable for dictating what occurs subsequent and bringing the story to life. I like this selection, and after loving Amelia Tyler because the Dungeon Grasp in Baldur’s Gate 3, I hope that that is simply the pure storytelling device for these kind of video games going ahead. Sport Masters achieve this a lot and are such an important a part of the expertise for sure tabletop RPGs, that now that I do know what we have been lacking all this time, I don’t wish to return and play sure video games–I can really feel the void in TTRPG video video games that forgo that all-knowing, guiding voice.
All of that is to say that Sunderfolk was my favourite demo at GDC this 12 months and is certainly one of my most anticipated video games for 2025. I am unable to wait to rope my buddies into enjoying it with me in just a few weeks when it launches for Xbox Collection X|S, PS5, PC, and Change on April 23.