Details of Coven now gathering in Wales

Written by Jack Allin — December 17, 2008 at 11:46

Having singlehandedly put Wales on the adventure gaming map this year with the release of Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches, now Arberth Studios is right back at it with the announcement of a new adventure called Coven.

Coven, as the title suggests, is a story about a witch... or is it? In 17th century Wales, Megan Jones was purportedly hanged as a witch, but according to Arberth, "while England and Scotland were hanging and burning hundreds accused of witchcraft, Wales exercised pragmatic tolerance; there are no records of witches being executed there", so something is clearly wrong with this account. In this modern day adventure, players must solve the mystery of why she was killed, and why the ghost of a black dog has been haunting the nearby river bridge ever since.

Called to the small town of Castle Avon to receive an inheritance from an unknown Aunt, players soon find themselves caught up in a tale dating back to the "frightening witch-hunts that coincided with the English Civil War, traversing the Rebecca Riots, the British Agricultural Revolution and World War II espionage, to the terrible threat that has come to grip the fate of the town following your Aunt's demise." Only by assuming your aunt's "occult responsibilities" will you be able to get to the bottom of this centuries-old mystery.

A first-person point-and-click adventure, Coven will feature many of the same qualities as Rhiannon, but improve on certain areas gleaned from player feedback. Not only will graphics be enhanced and navigation made better, but a quick travel map will cut down on travel between distant locations and a new method of recording progress and offering hints will be implemented.

Arberth is currently targeting the third quarter of 2009 for completion, though it's still very early in the game's production and this date represents a preliminary target only. In the meantime, for additional information about Coven, including some prototype script extracts, be sure to check out the developer's website.