From the creators of Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera comes The Bard’s Tale IV. Thirty years ago, The Bard’s Tale put Brian Fargo and Interplay on the map and launched a storied career crafting some of the most beloved cRPGs in gaming history.

Today, we return to Skara Brae for the long-awaited dungeon-crawling sequel to the Bard’s Tale trilogy -- the games that helped define the genre.

A single-player, party-based dungeon crawl, rich in exploration and combat
Dungeons filled not just with dangerous fights but with challenging puzzles and devious riddles
Dynamic phase-based combat, where the pace of battle is animated and fluid, but still gives you time to think and respond to your enemies
A game set to beautiful Gaelic music, where the Bard’s songs and melodies affect gameplay
Co-funded by fans and inXile: if this game hits its $1.25 million goal, inXile will put in at least $1.25 million of its own money to double the initial budget!
Built using Unreal Engine 4, for PC, Mac and Linux. Available from Steam or DRM-Free from GOG.com
Available in English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, and Polish
Built for and with the help of our fans.  Your feedback and input directly impact the design and features of the game during alpha and beta stages

Why the Bard's Tale?

30 years ago, a small company by the name of Interplay produced a cRPG titled Tales of the Unknown I: The Bard’s Tale. This game was crafted at a time when the RPG genre was growing and being defined by an endless stream of innovative releases. In this period dominated by Wizardry and Ultima, The Bard’s Tale was an unexpected hit, putting Interplay on the map. Brian went on to produce many of the RPGs we still love to this day, including Wasteland, Baldur’s Gate, Fallout, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and many more. The Bard’s Tale was also one of the first members of the Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame, and The Bard’s Tale III was featured in the Smithsonian’s “The Art of Video Games” exhibit.

During our successful crowdfunding campaigns for Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera, our legions of generous backers stunned us with their outpouring of support, proving those games still had an audience that was willing to help make them happen.

As we began to look into our next project, we were flooded with requests from many of our supporters who wanted us to return to The Bard’s Tale universe. The dungeon crawl genre it represents has largely been forgotten by mainstream publishers. What better time than the 30th anniversary of the original for us to bring The Bard’s Tale back to life with a true dungeon crawling sequel, The Bard’s Tale IV!

The Bard’s Tale IV allows you to develop, progress and grow a party of adventurers as you see fit. Build a combat-hardened warrior to lead the way, or a spell-flinging Conjurer to provide support from the back lines. A character’s class provides the basic archetype, but as you progress you will tweak and evolve your party to suit your play style.

The original Bard’s Tale games allowed you to evolve your magic class characters from the Conjurer and Magician to the more powerful Sorcerer, Chronomancer, Geomancer, and even the feared Archmage, each providing new spell trees to explore. We’re extending this system to all class types for increased levels of customization and tinkering. As your magic and combat abilities grow, you will combine spells and skills from your different party members for increased effects greater than the sum of their parts. Deciding when to evolve your characters has a major impact on the types of spells that become available.

We finally put the finishing touches on the video for The Bard’s Tale IV In-Engine Video. The biggest question we get is how we plan to bring the genre forward, and this video should answer the question. Exploring in the world is a major part of the experience and we wanted to make use of the full screen and all that Unreal has to offer to make it as compelling as possible. Once combat starts, the combat shifts out of the first person mode. We are still debating the best ways to present combat as that is ultimately dictated by the final budget, but rest assured it will be party and turn/phase based.

The song you’re hearing was written and performed by multi-award winning Gaelic singer and multi-instrumentalist Julie Fowlis, who you may know from the two songs she contributed to Disney Pixar’s major motion picture, Brave. You may also know her from her own albums, too. Julie Fowlis grew up in a Gaelic-speaking community immersed in Scottish culture, and the songs she will contribute to The Bard’s Tale IV’s soundtrack will make the setting that much richer.

From Julie herself: "Éamon and I are delighted to have contributed music for the iconic game The Bard's Tale. For us, it has been a fascinating journey exploring and creating music, drawing from the depths of our ancient Scottish Gaelic tradition, and marrying it with the fantasy world of a renowned computer game, now 30 years old." We hope you enjoyed this first look at The Bard’s Tale IV!

Thank you for your continued support,
Brian Fargo,
Your leader in Exile

Exciting news today: every backer of The Bard’s Tale IV ($20 or more) will get free digital copies of the original The Bard’s Tale, The Bard’s Tale II: The Destiny Knight and The Bard’s Tale III: Thief of Fate!

These are always my favorite updates... we did it!

Nearly 30,000 of you have put your belief in us once more, and we are forever grateful. You've heard me wax poetic on the subject of crowdfunding enough, but truly we would not be able to make these games without your support every step of the way. Your social media love you have given over the course of the campaign has been invaluable, and your continued support will let us make The Bard's Tale IV bigger and better than ever.

But for now let's just enjoy the moment of reaching our goal!

The Bard is back!

Brian Fargo
Leader inXile