Begging for transmedia: Against the Storm

This is a new feature I'm starting where I examine the transmedia potential of an IP that I love.

When a game makes you wonder about the lullabies its people sing to their children, it’s ready for transmedia. 

Against the Storm, developed by Eremite Games and published by Hooded Horse, is one of my favorite games in recent years. It's a fantasy roguelike city builder that is soaked in narrative elements that make me excited to see it get transmedia extensions:

- moody atmosphere of resilience, mystery and melancholy

- "rainpunk" fantasy setting with unique anthropomorphic races--beavers, foxes, harpies and more-- whose culture and origins are only hinted at

- cyclical structure wherein the Storm comes every few years to destroy what you've built, while everyone retreats to the one city that is magically protected, and then expansion restarts...

Starter Ideas

If I were to help expand that world beyond the game, I’d start with its emotional core and worldbuilding potential. Some initial ideas:

- A diegetic soundtrack album—music “from” the different races. Not epic trailer music, but folk songs, tavern chants, ancient lullabies. It’s a quiet way to give each species cultural depth without locking down lore—fuel for fan speculation and emotional immersion.

- Stories that ask: what do the storm cycles do to culture? How do civilizations evolve when every generation lives with the certainty of destruction and rebuilding? I’d love to explore that in short fiction or audio drama form—personal stories that reveal how the races think, grieve, prepare, and remember. I'd especially want to embed some of the villagers' procedurally generated family names into these stories; the next time you see the name pop up in the game, it's instant x-media magic.

- For a more resource intensive execution... A weather-linked mobile app experience—only playable during real world storms. You and nearby players collaborate to match sigils, interpret omens, and earn fragments of in-game lore. Something simple, poetic, and eerie that blurs the line between our world and theirs.

Those are some cocktail napkin concepts. There would be a lot of research, ideation, and strategy to be developed before Against the Storm made that leap. Most important is to listen to the existing audience... There's work to be done, but the upside is potentially huge. Hit me up, Eremite! 🦫 🦊 🦎 🪽