Online and video adventure gaming has millions of fans worldwide and is a billion-dollar business. While countries like the USA, Japan, and China are leading in game development, small European countries are now emerging as cost-effective destinations for the game development industry. The Baltic nation of Lithuania has an emerging quality game development community.
Lithuania-based game developer Tag of Joy and Swedish companyThunderful has released an intriguing hand-painted adventure PC game, Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit, for all adventure online and video game lovers, on May 6. The game is developed with the support of the Creative Europe Programme – MEDIA of the European Union and the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
Help Milda unravel family secret as she travels to Lithuania
Inspired by point-and-click classics such as Broken Sword, Still Life, Syberia and others, Crowns and Pawns: the Kingdom of Deceit attempts to bring the less explored history of Europe to the world of adventurers. The game offers a compelling mystery that blends an engaging personal tale with fascinating and underexplored aspects of Europe’s real history, satisfying puzzles and a spectacular setting in beautifully painted locations across Eastern Europe and Lithuania. It allows players to experience the legendary stories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, fight the villainous branch of the KGB, solve puzzles and follow hints to reveal the long forgotten secrets.
Crowns and Pawns tell the story of Milda, a girl from Chicago, who unexpectedly receives the last will of her deceased grandfather – it appears that she is an heir and the last guardian of a mysterious family secret, drawing Milda to travel to her grandfather’s home in Lithuania to try and uncover exactly what this secret might be. Before long, Milda finds herself embarking on an exciting and dangerous investigation across Europe. She becomes embroiled in a hunt for a lost relic, digs into historical figures like revered Lithuanian leader Vytautas the Great, and uncovers the murky past of the KGB’s clandestine activities during Soviet occupation.
“We can’t wait to get Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit into the hands of all the adventure game lovers out there on May 6,” said game director Šarūnas Ledas. “We’ve worked hard to create a compelling world to explore with a thrilling mystery to hook players in, so we are really looking forward to them giving it a try, and we hope they will check out the new trailer in the meantime.”
Creation by Lithuania’s Tag of Joy & Sweden’s Thunderful
The Lithuanian gaming industry is growing rapidly. There are more than 50 gaming development companies in the country. It’s the only country in the Baltics that has almost a dozen dedicated video game magazines published in the local language. Further, Lithuania is home to popular GameOn events, which started in 2014, considered the biggest annual gaming expo in the Baltics.
Tag of Joy is a Lithuania-based – award-winning, creativity-powered company, focused on game development for all major mobile and desktop platforms. The company makes rich and compelling interactive experiences, augmented and virtual reality solutions and other gamified products. The company has participated in numerous talks at the biggest gaming conferences around the world, including GDC (San Francisco), devcom (Cologne), Quo Vadis (Berlin), XR Connects (Helsinki), PlayX4 (Seoul).
Thunderful Group AB is a Swedish video game holding company based in Gothenburg. It was founded in December 2019 through a merger between Thunderful AB and Bergsala Holding’s distribution business, consisting of Bergsala, Amo Toys, and Nordic Game Supply.
