Common Misconceptions about “AURO”

Since we announced our upcoming game, Auro: The Golden Prince several months ago, some questions have repeatedly cropped up. Today I’d like to quickly address some of these to clear things up.

Auro is CROSS PLATFORM. A lot of people still seem to think that the game will only be available on iOS (probably because 100 Rogues was an iOS-only game). Auro will be available on iOS, Android, Windows, OSX, Linux and possibly more.

Auro is NOT AN RPG. It’s easy to understand why someone would think it is an RPG: the game takes place in a dungeon, it’s got a fairy tale setting, has Japanese RPG-inspired music and pixel art. But Auro is most certainly a strategy game, not an RPG. There are no experience points, no inventory, no equipment, and a very minimal story.

Auro is NOT A ROGUELIKE. Although it is high-score based, turn based, and has randomly generated content, Auro will probably not be considered a roguelike for the same reasons listed above. There is no “exploration” in Auro – the dungeons levels are totally linear “courses”. Some will probably call it “roguelike-like”, but I think the solitaire card game Klondike qualifies as a “roguelike-like”, which to me means that the term isn’t super useful.

Auro is TURN BASED STRATEGY. Those who are looking for a well-designed turn-based strategy game should be very excited for this game. Fans of games like Advance Wars, Final Fantasy Tactics, Fantasy General, or abstracts like Chess will really love Auro.

Auro will have VERY LIMITED DLC/IAPs that are ACTUALLY TOTALLY OPTIONAL. When you buy Auro, you’ve got the complete game. There may be additional expansion content available, but unlike most games, it’s not a scheme to sucker you into spending more money on the base game than is immediately visible. None of the extra content will make you “better at the game”, only provide new ways of playing. Examples would be new game modes or playable characters.

Auro is NOT A CLONE OF ANYTHING. I am comfortable saying that there has never been a game quite like Auro. It is unique. The closest thing to it would probably be “what if you turned Diablo 2 into an elegant turn-based strategy game?”

Anyway, I hope this clears some things up for people! Please let us know if you have any more questions and we’ll add them here.