UnReal World

UnReal World is a unique low-fantasy roguelike game set in the far north during the late Iron-Age.
The world of the game is highly realistic, rich with historical atmosphere and
emphasized on survival in the harsh ancient wilderness.


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Hall of Fame
...into the far north we shall take you --
-- as far as we can by the means of computer role playing...
Dev. history
since 1992
Spirit of
UnReal World
History of
Finland
The spirit of UnReal World RPG
unreal world Sami (UrW author) has been working with the project UnReal World for two decades, and it took many years to find the unique idea and style of the game. In the beginning the game was yet another roguelike with many of the traditional features of sword & magic games. As the world of the game grew more complex, Sami asked his remote friend, Erkka, to invent some religions and cults to be found in UnReal World. A simple cult of Beron, a legendary warrior who was killed by a thunder-bolt, was added to the game. But dealing with only the traditional roguelike fantasy elements was not satisfying; a seed was growing. After a year of intense thinking, discussing and testing the idea grew clearer: Instead of familiar elements of fantasy we will turn to roots of our own, into the folklore, mythology and history of Finland.

unreal world Orcs, elves and magic weapons were ruled out. The project of "fenno-ugrian-fantasy" was on the way. We decided not to stick too close to the historical facts, but not to fly too high off the ground. So, the world of the game is based on the ancient Finland in the late Iron Age - roughly 800 - 1200 A.D. The finnish folk lived on their own in their loose villages, farming, fishing and hunting for food. They had their own tradition, myths and rituals. They were trading furs for swords and tools. And there were plenty of wilderness forests, owned by no-one, so that a young man could freely go and build an own house with just an axe and a knife.

unreal world In order not to make a imperfect copy of the historical Finland, we have altered the map and the cultures. So the land is not a copy of the map of Finland, the cultures are not identical with those of the iron-age Finland. But still the spirit and many of the features are the same. As said, our main source of inspiration is the late iron-age, and the beginning of the middle-age; roughly 800 - 1200 A.D in Finland. We use historical facts for example when we create weapons, tools, animals, villages and so on. Instead of knights and dragons, or ninjas and ronins, we turn back to peasants and hunters, rune-singers and sages of our own cultural history. So do not be surprised when you encounter some low-fantasy elements from finnish folk-lore, like a Tonttu taking care of the sauna. And remember not to hunt without bearing in mind that besides of men and animals, there are also supernatural dwellers and guardians spirits in the forest...

Now you may want to take a look at development history since 1992 section.