Tales of Maj'Eyal is a dungeon crawl featuring a customizable graphical interface that integrates classic roguelike keyboard commands with a mouse-driven interface. In a departure from many older roguelike games, Tales of Maj'Eyal has full-color graphics, can be played almost exclusively with the mouse, and despite permadeath the player can earn extra lives through various ways and leveling up. Tales of Maj'Eyal emphasizes tactical turn-based combat and flexible player-controlled character development. Gameplay depends heavily on the player's decisions and ability to develop and execute strategy. Play begins with the player selecting one of nine races and one of 25 classes. Not all character choices are available at first; some must be unlocked through in-game progress, or through monetary donation or purchase. The player must explore Eyal, a lore-filled world containing numerous dungeons and adversaries. The plot is non-linear, and success depends as much on character planning and storyline choices as it does on the player's skill in defeating enemies in combat.
Online support
Players may register with an optional online game server, which allows them to view their characters, achievements and high scores. It also collates game statistics including the top killers of players, most common race/class choices, and number of wins. In addition, the game server offers an online chat system, letting players talk to each other.
Development
Tales of Maj'Eyal was developed by Nicolas Casalini, with graphics by Assen Kanev and Raymond Gaustadnes. It is based upon Casalini's earlier game Tales of Middle Earth, which in turn is based upon his own PernAngband variant, which was itself based on Zangband, which was in turn based on Angband. Development of ToME 4 started in 2009, and the first formal release occurred in 2012. The T-Engine game engine is written in C, and offers a development framework for grid-based game modules written in Lua. It supports many OpenGL features such as particle effects and shaders. The T-Engine has been used to create games for the annual Seven Day Roguelike Challenge in 2011 and 2012. On 27 October 2014, the expansionAshes of Urh'Rok was released. The expansion Embers of Rage was released on 23 February 2016. The expansion Forbidden Cults was released on 16 May 2018. Modifications may also be made to the Tales of Maj'Eyalgame module through an addon system, including graphics, interface, content and gameplay balance alterations and additions.
Reception
Tales of Maj'Eyal has been awarded "ASCII Dreams Roguelike of the Year" for 2010, 2011, and 2012 with over 5000 roguelike players voting in 2012. It has also been accepted into Valve's Steam store as well as on the DRM-free outlet gog.com. Steamspy reported in 2016 over 150,000 Steam game owners and around 2,000 active players over the last two weeks. Reviews of Tales of Maj'Eyal have been largely positive with praise being given for its accessibility, graphics, user interface, backstory and varied gameplay. US Gamer calls it "one of the very best roguelikes out there".
