Every article tag can be clicked to get a list of all articles in that category. Every article tag also has an RSS feed! You can customize an RSS feed too!
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

After myself and a few others tested it, Tower of Time [Steam] is now officially available for Linux. The game blends together an RPG with RTS mechanics and it's quite interesting.

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

During testing it had that dreaded Unity fullscreen bug, but after I spoke to the developer about the issue they upgraded their Unity version and changed the fullscreen method, so it now works without issues!

Also, for NVIDIA users, they recommend the 375 driver. Later drivers apparently cause occasional stuttering, although for me on more recent drivers it's been pretty smooth overall.

You exist in a time where the past has been forgotten, the world is dying and the human race is on the verge of extinction. As a young boy, you come across a strange ruined monument and it's in there that the main story emerges.

The story is actually quite impressive. The way it's told through cutscenes that blends pictures through smoke as a narrator speaks, it's beautifully designed and honestly quite surprising that it has such beautiful presentation.

The actual graphics of the main gameplay are also pretty impressive. Practically beautiful at times too, with great lighting effects and some fantastic texture work:

The actual combat isn't too bad either, it feels like lot other party-based RPGs with you switching between characters, while making use of their special abilities. It's real time, but it offers the ability to slow down time and think a little. Something about the combat seems a little dull right now though, I can't quite put my finger on what it is that I don't entirely love about the combat. It's probably down to not having had enough battles yet, or enough variety in the characters I have.

The combat is better than a lot of indie RPGs though. It features a Threat mechanic, where damage to an enemy generates Threat, so enemies will attack who's giving them the highest level of it. You can manage that with abilities like Taunt, to force an enemy to fight a melee warrior while others attack from afar. During combat, enemies appear in waves, so you're not dealing with them all at once. That I actually quite like!

It does however tick another box for me, which is the ability to save whenever I want when exploring. Nothing worse than checkpoint saves, thankfully there's none of that annoyance here.

One thing I would like to see, is the ability to go back in the conversion. I accidentally double tapped spacebar and missed a bit of early dialogue I would have liked to read. A minor niggle, but I think it would be very helpful in future.

One part of the early game doesn't really make sense either. You come across teleporters and when you find the second one, your party suggests you use it to go back and speak to your Lord to tell him the way is clear, but you're not actually able to do that. It seems the dialogue there is just completely wrong. It's Early Access though, so small issues like that are to be expected.

I've been greatly enjoying the exploration and story side of it and I plan to continue to play more, as the story about the Tower seems to be pretty interesting.

Will you save mankind? Only one way to find out...

The game is currently on Steam, although they do plan a GOG release when they game is finished, providing GOG accept their game onto the store.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
6 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
8 comments

Beamboom Aug 31, 2017
Looks fantastic, with favourable user reviews too. Plus, the stupid geek in me loves to see the "Windows and Linux" icon, and not the standard all three. I guess it's just a matter of time though.

But yeah. Will be purchased.

Hey devs: Please make a sci-fi themed rpg next? Please? Or Goth? Noir? Steampunk? Cyberpunk? Or pretty much anything other than the twelve-a-dozen fantasy setting? :)
Nezchan Aug 31, 2017
The environments and perspective look very Torchlight, which I like. This one's going on my wishlist, at least until I get a chance to see someone play for a while, maybe on a Friday stream sometime.
razing32 Aug 31, 2017
How's the story ?
Or because it is EA there's nothing there ?
I don't really like combat only RPGs , I need some setting and plot dammit.
Event_Horizon Aug 31, 2017
Hello. Story is finished for the current content. We release the game in "Books".
Thanks for the coverage Liam and for support in testing Linux build.
razing32 Aug 31, 2017
Quoting: Event_HorizonHello. Story is finished for the current content. We release the game in "Books".
Thanks for the coverage Liam and for support in testing Linux build.

I take it you are the dev ?
Thanks for the reply.
Will the books be DLC ? Or will it be a full game with chapters being "books" ?
Sorry If i came across rough , I just don't like hack'n'slash RPGs where all you do is kill monsters.
Event_Horizon Aug 31, 2017
Sure. You have a valid point - RPG in EA? What the heck?

Yes, I am the dev and game creator.
Books will be added as part of Early Access, price might increase a bit as more content will be added, but not sure yet.
The story is coherent one, but it has major turning points, so hence we could do "the books".

Well, this game is definitely not hack'n'slash. It is a combination of RPG and RTS on a small scale, where you directly control up to four champions at one time, select-able from the growing rooster of available classes. You train them, equip them and select/upgrade their skills.
drmoth Sep 1, 2017
Hi Event_Horizon,

I don't see controller support for the game (which is fine), but do you know if it's playable with a Steam Controller? The couch is my favourite position these days for games, so I try and make everything work for that context (plus I run SteamOS).


Last edited by drmoth on 1 September 2017 at 2:54 am UTC
libgradev Sep 1, 2017
Quoting: Event_HorizonHello. Story is finished for the current content. We release the game in "Books".
Thanks for the coverage Liam and for support in testing Linux build.

Thanks for bringing this to Linux - looked at it a while back and it sounded like a really cool concept!

I picked it up straight away :)
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.