“Today is a big day. The Wagadu Chronicles is finally accessible to the world.” So begins Twin Drums’ announcement that its Afrofantasy MMORPG has officially entered early access. Readers will recall that the MMO first popped onto the scene back in the fall of 2020, when the Riot Games-backed indie developer raised nearly $200,000 in a successful Kickstarter; it marks one of the rare few games, let alone MMORPGs, with authentic African-inspired lore and music. (It also managed to meet all of its public testing and launch targets, which might make it even more rare in this genre.)
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing; the devs make a pointed note in their announcement today that over the course of development, they “had to deal with repeated waves of online racist abuse and the scepticism of many a potential publisher or investor questioning ‘if it made sense to market a game in an Afrofantasy setting such as Wagadu.”
But it’s here now and expecting to be in early access for the next year. “We decided to release under the ‘early access’ program because The Wagadu Chronicles still needs work and support to reach its full potential,” Twin Drums reminds players. The game is currently on sale on Steam for just under $20; features like the navigation system, herding, a larger map, and more content are still en route to the sandbox, but the player-driven economy, farming, music, villages, guilds, and combat are already in.
Oh, and here’s a fun note: Steam has decided to market the game as similar to EVE Online and Wakfu. And at least in Wakfu’s case, it’s not completely out there, given that both share turn-based combat.
If you’re just giving the game a go for the first time, you might want to avail yourself of the early access guide, which explains everything from movement and crafting and skilling to questing and minigames and roleplay.
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