The Iron Oath
Manage a mercenary company in a changing fantasy world.
The Iron Oath is a tactical role-playing game from Curious Panda Games, published by Humble Games. It launched for Windows and macOS in 2023, following an early access period that began in 2022. Players take charge of a mercenary company in a fantasy setting, taking on jobs, fighting in turn-based battles, and optionally pursuing a revenge-driven main storyline.
In the game, the world evolves over time: kingdoms may go to war, dragons can attack cities, and random events—sometimes unique to specific regions—alter the landscape. Travel happens on an overworld map. Mercenaries age, and older ones may retire. Players must keep their troops fed and maintain their morale. As mercenaries gain experience, they demand higher pay. If salaries go unpaid or if choices during quests clash with a mercenary’s values, they might leave permanently. Each mercenary belongs to a class with a skill tree granting unique abilities.
Combat is turn-based and tactical, following a streamlined system similar to the modern XCOM games, where each unit can move and perform one action per turn. Jobs range from simple escort missions that avoid combat to dungeon crawls focused on fighting. Dungeons grow harder and impose steeper penalties the longer players explore them. The main quest centers on revenge for a betrayal, but it can be ignored; however, delaying too long may make those quests unavailable. The game uses retro pixel art graphics.
Curious Panda Games is based in the United States. The studio raised more than double its $45,000 crowdfunding goal in 2017. The Iron Oath entered early access on April 19, 2022, and Humble Games released the full version for macOS and Windows on November 2, 2023.
Reviews from early access noted both promise and problems. Rock Paper Shotgun enjoyed the game but found dungeon exploration overly complex and difficult to understand, with arbitrary difficulty from penalties and time limits. They also felt important information was poorly presented. Polygon praised the tough decisions and combat but disliked the user interface, hoping it would improve during early access. PC Gamer compared it to Battle Brothers, saying it is less gritty and more narrative-focused, with a reactive story and impactful character deaths. However, they noted the early access version lacked content and was less of a sandbox, though it showed promise.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Curious Panda Games
- Publisher
- Humble Games
- Composer
- Alex Roe
- Engine
- Unity
- Platforms
- macOS; Windows
- Released
- November 2, 2023 (WW)
- Genre
- Tactical role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Iron Oath is set in a fantasy world where time brings change: kingdoms declare war, dragons attack cities, and random events alter the landscape, some unique to specific regions. Travel occurs on an overworld map. Mercenaries age over time, and older members may retire. Players must maintain morale and feed their company; as mercenaries gain experience, they demand higher salaries. Failure to pay or making choices they disagree with during quests can cause them to leave permanently. Each mercenary has a class with unique abilities in a skill tree.
Combat is turn-based and tactical, following a streamlined system similar to the XCOM remake series, allowing one movement and one action per turn. Quests range from simple escort missions without combat to combat-heavy dungeon crawls. Dungeons become more difficult and impose harsher penalties the longer players explore them. The main story involves seeking vengeance for a betrayal, but it can be ignored; however, ignoring it for too long may cause players to miss opportunities to follow up on it. The game uses retro pixel art graphics.
Reader's Guide
The Iron Oath entered early access in April 2022 and was met with mixed early impressions. Rock Paper Shotgun found potential but criticized the early access build for complex dungeon exploration, arbitrary difficulty from penalties and time limits, and poor presentation of important information. Polygon enjoyed the difficult decisions and combat but disliked the user interface, hoping for improvements during early access. PC Gamer compared it to Battle Brothers, noting it is less gritty and more narrative-focused, with a reactive story and impactful character death; however, they found the early access version less of a sandbox and lacking content, though promising and engrossing. RPGFan compared the story to Dragon Age: Origins and the dungeon exploration to Darkest Dungeon, calling it very enjoyable and distinct in its own direction. RPGamer praised the management, combat, and exploration. The game was developed by Curious Panda Games, based in the United States, after doubling its $45,000 crowdfunding goal in 2017. It was published by Humble Games and released for macOS and Windows on November 2, 2023.
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