Ragnorium is a real-time strategy (RTS) and colony simulation video game developed by Witcheye Studio and published by DANGEN Entertainment. It blends elements of base-building, resource management, and roguelite progression within a science fiction setting.
Gameplay In Ragnorium, players are tasked with establishing and managing a colony on a procedurally generated planet, often after a catastrophic event or as part of a new interstellar expedition. The core gameplay loop involves:
- Colony Management: Players must oversee the construction of various buildings, including production facilities, living quarters, and defensive structures, to support their colonists.
- Resource Gathering: Essential resources like food, water, raw materials, and energy must be gathered and managed to ensure the colony's survival and expansion.
- Colonist Recruitment and Progression: Players can recruit new colonists, each with unique traits and skills. These colonists can be assigned tasks, gain experience, and level up, improving their capabilities in combat, crafting, or resource collection.
- Combat: The game features real-time combat where players must defend their colony and colonists from various alien threats and hostile factions. Strategic placement of defenses and effective utilization of colonist abilities are crucial for survival.
- Exploration: Players can send expeditions to explore the surrounding environment, uncover new resources, discover ancient technologies, and encounter diverse flora and fauna.
- Roguelite Elements: A defining characteristic of Ragnorium is its incorporation of roguelite mechanics. Each playthrough presents a new set of challenges and opportunities due to procedural generation, and permanent death for colonists adds significant weight to decisions. Players often work towards specific objectives or milestones that, upon completion, unlock new starting conditions, technologies, or characters for subsequent runs.
Setting and Lore The game's narrative typically places players in a post-apocalyptic or pioneering scenario in a distant future. Humanity is often depicted as having ventured far into the cosmos, only to face new threats or rediscover ancient dangers. The environments are often stark and perilous, emphasizing the struggle for survival against overwhelming odds.
Development and Release Ragnorium initially entered Early Access on Steam in October 2020, allowing the developers to gather feedback and iterate on the game's features. It officially launched its full version in March 2022, introducing a more polished experience with additional content, balancing, and improvements based on community input. It is primarily available on PC platforms.