A new and painfully nostalgic RPG by a solo developer just made landfall on Steam, and we immediately set out to find what Schmidt Workshop’s new title, Islands Of The Caliph, it all about.

Islands Of The Caliph catapults you right back into the days of MS-DOS RPGs, like the Might And Magic series, or the early Elder Scrolls titles Arena and Daggerfall.

The game absolutely commits to the bit, with pixellated textures, a decorative border on the screen, and the 2D sprite trees that spin around uncannily to always face you.

A Land Divided

As the title might suggest, Islands Of The Caliph takes place on an island chain, once part of a larger landmass. Many centuries previously a catastrophic flood tore through the region, splitting the area into a cluster of smaller isles.

Once, the islands held together as a unified society, but by the time you start your adventure they are practically a mystery to one another, a mystery you set out to solve!

You take a stroll around the fantastical islands in a grid-based movement format as you set out on an adventure to explore the scattered little nations of the archipelago. This isn’t an easy task though, as the Islands Of The Caliph are a dangerous place.

There are all kinds of deadly beasties lurking in its forests and dungeons.

Cursors Need Not Apply

The game plays in the first person, and entirely using your keyboard, no new-fangled mice allowed here. Combat is a real-time affair where you wail on the monsters with your weapon of choice, and try to time strikes and blocks to wreck them before they wreck you.

If you like the sound of this delightful little RPG time capsule, you can pick up Islands Of The Caliph now on Steam.

If you’re interested in some more seafaring adventures, take a gander at our news on the Seablip demo.