Bethesda boss Todd Howard praises a small medieval strategy game as a masterpiece, and the resourceful developer immediately uses this as a new sales argument.
Most of you are probably familiar with Bethesda’s Game Director Todd Howard. But what does the executive producer or project manager of legendary titles such as Skyrim, Morrowind, and Fallout 3 actually play in his private life? He recently revealed this in a podcast appearance, where he praised a small indie game in the highest terms.
Spontaneous praise in the podcast
Todd Howard is currently busy with the further development of Starfield and the pre-production of The Elder Scrolls 6. In his spare time, however, the industry veteran regularly plays small indie titles. In the latest edition of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, the conversation turns to his current favorites. Howard specifically mentions the title Drop Duchy.
Link to YouTube content
He initially describes the game as a very elegant and intelligent concept. In response to host Greg Miller’s joking request to provide the creators with an official quote for their advertising campaign, Howard responds immediately:
“A masterclass in game design, in a genre where you think you’ve seen it all.”
Miller jokes that this sentence belongs right on the back of the packaging—and the developers at Catchweight Studio take him at his word. Shortly after the podcast airs, Todd Howard’s exact quote appears on the Steam store page for Drop Duchy :
What exactly is Drop Duchy?
If you’ve missed the title so far: Drop Duchy combines different genres to create a new game concept. You place falling blocks and landscape pieces, similar to the classic puzzle game Tetris. At the same time, you build a functioning city and collect valuable resources.
The gameplay is based on a deck-building system: You draw cards that represent specific buildings, units, or landscape features. You must arrange these tactically on the playing field. Enemy attacks force you to plan defenses and position your troops strategically.
Not everyone will like this: The whole thing is a roguelite. If your duchy fails, you start over, but you unlock new cards and modifiers for future attempts. If you want to try out for yourself what a legendary game director praises so highly, Drop Duchy costs $15 on Steam, and the Complete Edition of the game is also included in Game Pass for subscribers.