An upcoming colony sim will merge itself with the tower defense genre. In Ark of Charon you’re in charge of building a fortress on the back of the walking sapling of the world tree as it travels to where it will grow—all the while defending it from the hordes of monsters that attack at every turn.
“Ark of Charon is a new type of game that combines colony simulation and tower defense, where players embark on a journey to guide a giant, beast-like sapling of a World Tree to its nursery. Players take on the role of the tree’s caretaker, controlling familiars and turning the tree into a fortified mobile fortress as they progress on their journey,” says developer Sunsoft
It’s an intriguing looking combo. Players will apparently alternate periods of inactivity when they can stop and mine for resources, build defenses, and craft equipment with periods of travel when they can expect to be under constant attack.
The scenes of 2D mining are reminiscent of a lot of good games in the genre, and the idea of trying to speedily get what you need on stops sounds pretty neat. The range on display seems really goofy and fun, as well—some screenshots have the tree defended by ballistas, bows, and catapults, but others show modern weapons reminiscent of a full-on Phalanx air defense turret being powered by wind turbines.
Ark of Charon is being co-developed by Angoo and Sunsoft, and published by Sunsoft. That’s the rather storied Japanese company Sunsoft, by the way, with a history stretching back to the arcade era. They started publishing PC games again in 2022.
You can find Ark of Charon on Steam, where it doesn’t yet have a release date.
