Design Document v0.3 · April 2026
This document describes the wider game design. For the current prototype’s economy, construction and renown rules, read the game specifications. Game tuning lets you adjust those values while playing.
You begin with a holy relic and a plot of land. Your goal is to grow a medieval pilgrimage site from a humble waypoint into a renowned destination that draws travelers from across the known world.
The game is a real-time isometric settlement builder set in medieval Europe — Black Forest Germany, English countryside, Italian hill country, and similar environments. Players manage infrastructure, economy, and NPC needs as pilgrims travel a pre-existing path through the map.
A place to rest. People stop because it's convenient, not because they seek you out.
Word has spread. Merchants set up. There's reason to linger. You're a known quantity.
You are the pilgrimage. Travelers come specifically for your relic and your city.
Progression is gated by Renown — a single visible meter that grows with your site. Renown thresholds unlock new building tiers, attract new pilgrim archetypes, and increase the trickle of incoming travelers.
You are the landlord. The relic generates direct patronage income. Everything else generates tax revenue.
Tenants (merchants, monks, entertainers) have a demand meter. If pilgrim foot traffic falls below their threshold, they close up and leave — taking their draw with them. Attrition can cascade if left unchecked.
Two tiers of visitor: common pilgrims (the majority, flexible needs) and archetype characters (merchants, monks, entertainers, nobles) with specific motivations and higher value.
Archetype characters are unlocked by your buildings — monks don't appear until you have a monastery; merchants arrive once you have a marketplace. Buildings summon their population.
All NPCs arrive with a budget. They spend based on available amenities and personal disposition (more pious vs. more mercantile). Your job is to capture as much of that budget as possible during their stay.
Some pilgrims may choose to settle permanently as residents if job slots are open and conditions are favorable. Residents need housing, food, and wages — they become your labor force.
The paths leading to your site pass through wilderness — forests with bandits, wild animals, and other hazards. Pilgrims who encounter danger turn back and may never come. Your reach is only as good as your roads are safe.
You deploy guards on patrol routes along the paths. Guards are visible on the map, walking assigned routes. Different guard types cover different threats. More coverage means more pilgrims successfully arriving. This is your primary early-game lever for increasing traffic.
Road quality determines who can use the path and in what numbers. The path must always remain connected end to end — breaking continuity during construction cuts off traffic. Build alternative routes before demolishing existing ones.
Three terrain types shape routing decisions on each map. Terrain is a routing puzzle, not an ongoing management system.
Rivers are static obstacles solved once with a single infrastructure decision — no ongoing management, no river-specific threats. Each crossing type has different cost and throughput implications.
Your road network defines your territory. Everything operates within it — guards patrol within it, bandits are cleared within it, buildings are placed within it. It expands organically as you build outward. No explicit territory declaration needed: you build, and the world responds.
Beyond the steady trickle of individual pilgrims, the game features periodic caravan arrivals — a mass of NPCs traveling together, visually striking and economically significant. Inspired by the merchant caravans of Louis L'Amour's The Walking Drum, these events capture the feeling of medieval travel as a communal, culturally rich undertaking.
Caravans are triggered by Renown milestones— a reward for growth, not a random event. Watching a column of travelers, wagons, and varied characters crest the hill and move down your road toward the relic is the game's signature visual moment.
A possible late-game building: a Caravanserai — a waystation outside the city proper that signals to distant travelers you can receive large groups, unlocking larger and more frequent caravan events.
Isometric perspective. Medieval European settings — Germanic forest, English countryside, French hills, Italian countryside. Seasonal visuals (aesthetic, not necessarily gameplay-affecting). The feel is closer to RollerCoaster Tycoon than Age of Empires — management and observation, not combat and conquest.
No RTS combat. Military elements (guards, walls) are defensive and logistical, not tactical.
Art style: hand-drawn isometric assets with painterly warmth. Strong readable silhouettes over fine surface detail — assets must remain legible with many NPCs on screen simultaneously. Visual reference: Thronebreaker's color palette and atmosphere, RCT2's asset clarity and caricature-level readability.