Official Title: Studio:Genre:Release Date: Demo:Price:Embargo:Contact:Wizard Tower WarsThe Ancient ArcanumRTS / Auto-BattlerMay, 2027Feb, 2027$14.99Nonekevin@theancientarcanum.comFootage and screenshots may be used in articles, videos and streams. Streaming and monetizing are welcome. For a Steam key, email kevin@theancientarcanum.com
Description
Wizard Tower Wars is a real-time strategy deckbuilder for up to 4 players where your Spellbook is your army. Choose a wizard and a tower, fill your Spellbook with cards, then cast them in real time to summon armies, raise buildings, send out workers, and hurl spells at rival mages. Your units fight on their own, so victory comes from what you cast and when, not how fast you click.
Inspired by Magic: The Gathering, Warcraft 3, and 4X games like Stellaris and Northgard, Wizard Tower Wars blends deckbuilding with territory expansion and diplomacy. Gather mana, wood, and stone, research rarer and more powerful cards mid-match, upgrade your tower, and compete with rivals for a rotating stock of artifacts. Forge alliances, broker peace, or betray a friend at exactly the wrong moment. If your tower falls, the war is lost.
Play online with up to 3 friends, fill open seats with AI mages, or take on single-player Challenge levels. Wizard Tower Wars is made by solo developer Kevin of The Ancient Arcanum and comes to Steam in May 2027 for $14.99, with a free demo arriving ahead of Steam Next Fest in February 2027.
Key Features
Your Spellbook Is Your Army – Cast cards in real time to summon units, raise buildings, and unleash spells. Cards recharge in your Spellbook instead of being drawn and discarded, so every choice is about when to cast.
Strategy Over Micro – Your forces fight automatically. Win through planning, positioning, and timing, not click speed.
Choose Your Wizard and Tower – Every wizard and tower has its own strengths, and each pairing changes how you play. Upgrade your tower mid-match as the war heats up.
Grow Stronger Every Match – Research unlocks new Spellbook slots with rarer cards, from Uncommon up to Legendary. Level up to pick rewards, and buy upgrades for your favorite cards.
Expand Your Arcane Empire – Send workers to gather mana, wood, and stone, and push your influence across the map, 4X style.
Artifact Shop – Compete with rival wizards for a rotating stock of powerful artifacts.
Diplomacy and Betrayal – Ally, make peace, or backstab. Every attack, trade, and spell changes how your rivals see you.
Play Your Way – Battle up to 3 friends online, fill open seats with AI mages from Easy to Hard, or take on single-player Challenge levels.
About Us
Kevin, Founder and CEO of The Ancient Arcanum, quit his corporate job as a Staff Software Engineer in late 2022 to pursue his lifelong passion for making games. Ever since he picked up a programmable calculator in the 6th grade, he was hooked. Since then he has tinkered with C++/OpenGL, Microsoft XNA, and finally landing on Unity as the framework of choice. The last 10 years had been corporate coding by day, and Unity tinkering by night; no easy feat to balance, as most Indie Devs can confirm. But finally with the support of his Wife, and a little encouragement from his role model Thor of Pirate Software to “Go make games”, he decided to make the leap of faith.
That leap took him to Techno Sorcery (first Steam Game), and eventually Wizard Tower Wars!
Quotes from Kevin
“Wizard Tower Wars actually started because my friend group was looking for more RTS and 4X games to play. We loved Stellaris, Northgard, Mechabellum, Rusted Warfare, Dune Spice Wars, Kingdoms Reborn, and the like. We gravitated towards games where the player could make high level decisions without having to micro an army too much. I really wanted to make something that we could all play together, and that kickstarted my journey.”
“Magic the Gathering was a big source of inspiration. I love how that game lets you customize your strategy and make it your own. I thought it would be really cool if playing a card actually summoned little units that ran around. I also brought in some concepts from Warcraft 3; I loved the tactical aspect and high level choices of the game, but found the micro too stressful. So Wizard Tower Wars takes a more autobattler approach.”
“I just make things that I want to play. If I get bored of playing, I add a bit more to make me excited again. I have been iterating like this on Wizard Tower Wars for a couple years. I feel like it is packed full of features to keep the player engaged during every battle.”
“Indie dev is hard. Like really hard. You have to put on so many hats, and work long hours. We do this because we love it. What made it the most difficult for me was trying to balance a corporate job writing software with coming home and writing software for fun. You might spend a weekend fixing some silly bug, only to context switch back to the corporate grind. Maybe next weekend you don’t want to start back up again. The most freeing sensation I have ever felt is being able to work a full 8 hours a day on Wizard Tower Wars, and then sign-off and live life too.”
“Find the fun. I had so many ideas. Most of them just weren’t fun in practice. Rapid prototype to find the fun. Everything after that is polish.”
“At first my ideas for games fueled me. But I kept burning out working on them. An allure of bringing an idea into reality can only go so far. What mattered more was enjoying the process. Find a type of game or aspects of making games that you enjoy, and focus on that. If you enjoy making the game itself, you won’t burnout.”
“I felt like Phil Fish from Fez; except instead of pixel art, it was UI Buttons for me. I’m still trying to make that perfect button.”
“Sometimes I hop off my computer to fix dinner and start thinking, oh gosh I need to get some work done. But then I realize I had been working for the last 10 hours. Most of it just feels like play now.”
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