The theme of consequence

Lore & Background

The game takes place in The Ninth World, a science fantasy campaign setting written by Monte Cook for his tabletop RPG Numenera. In the far future (one billion years), the rise and fall of countless civilizations have left Earth in a roughly medieval state, surrounded by technological relics called the numenera. The player experiences the game from the point of view of the Last Castoff, a human host once inhabited by a powerful being but abandoned without memory.

Reader's Guide

The game uses the Unity engine with pre-rendered 2.5D isometric perspective environments. The tabletop ruleset of Numenera has been adapted as the game's rule mechanic. Combat and item accumulation take a secondary role to story and character interaction. The player can select the protagonist's gender and develop skills and personality through interactions. Three base character classes are available: Glaive (warrior), Nano (wizard), and Jack (rogue), customizable with descriptors and foci. Instead of a classic alignment system, the game uses 'Tides' to represent reactions a person inspires, and the composition of Tides determines the character's Legacy.

Did You Know?

• Torment: Tides of Numenera was crowd-funded through Kickstarter in March 2013, setting the record for highest-funded video game on Kickstarter with over US$4 million pledged.
• The game was initially set for release in December 2014, but was pushed back to February 2017.
• The game contains seven companions: Aligern, Callistege, Erritis, Matkina, Oom, Tybir, and Rhin.
• The Sorrow was renamed from 'The Angel of Entropy' to reduce the potential to imply a religious role.