NYFIR STUDIOS
THE RAVENBORN SAGA PRESENTS

VARKELD

A Viking RPG between the pages

A mobile third-person RPG where you enter the world of The Ravenborn Saga as an original character. The great events, people and consequences of the books remain canon. Your story lives in the spaces around them.

ANDROIDTHIRD-PERSON RPGSTORY DRIVENCANON-FAITHFULIN DEVELOPMENT
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THE IDEA

Your story.
Their history.

VARKELD is not a retelling where the player replaces the heroes of the novels. It is designed as a parallel journey: you can witness important moments, meet canon characters in the correct story order and take part in the world without rewriting what The Ravenborn Saga says happened.

You play an original person who does not exist in the novels. That is deliberate. It gives the player freedom to explore, fight, help people, discover places and build their own identity while the main story remains anchored to the books.

The planned opening begins in England around the death of Ragnar Lothbrok. Major moments are intended to be presented through short in-engine cinematic sequences in the same visual language as the game. If your character was present for a moment, they may appear in the scene — but they are never the person who changes the established outcome.

From there, the journey moves through the world and chronology of the saga. Main quests move the canon story forward. Between them, the player is free to explore, interact, fight, learn more about the world and eventually discover side stories that make each playthrough feel more alive.

“You are not here to rewrite the saga. You are here to live inside it.”
CANON

The books remain the source of truth.

Important people, places, relationships and events are intended to follow The Ravenborn Saga. When the manuscripts define something, the game should respect it.

PLAYER FREEDOM

Explore between main quests.

The main story advances only when you choose to follow it. Exploration, NPC encounters, side quests and future activities are designed to add meaning without spoiling or breaking canon.

REPLAYABILITY

The same saga. A different journey.

Future living-world systems are planned to vary ordinary NPCs, side quests and optional encounters so a replay can feel familiar without being identical.

THE WORLD

Recognizable.
Stylized. Alive.

VARKELD is intentionally not chasing ultra-realistic AAA graphics. The goal is a readable, attractive and efficient low-poly world that feels coherent on a phone: grass should look like grass, trees like trees, houses like houses and castles like castles.

Current VARKELD development build with player character and village assets
A world being rebuilt around the player.Current development footage. Visual assets are still evolving toward the final VARKELD style.
VARKELD player character facing a humanoid opponent
Combat without losing accessibility.Readable action, low gore and a family-accessible presentation without turning the story childish.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Built for the story,
not around a gimmick.

The project has a few rules that shape every future system, from combat and NPCs to cinematics and monetization.

◆

Canon first

Canon characters should look and behave as the books describe them. The game may fill gaps, but should not contradict established lore.

⚔

Family-accessible action

Fights can be exciting and serious without graphic gore. Dark mythology is presented through mystery, atmosphere and adventure rather than shock value.

♜

Mobile-first immersion

Readable characters, responsive touch controls, adjustable camera distance and lightweight assets are prioritized over expensive visual effects.

◈

A living world

Important characters receive full interactions. Ordinary people can speak naturally in the world, and later some may become dynamic side-quest hooks.

◎

Your character

Later development will add player identity and customization such as name, gender/body presentation, hair, appearance, clothing and equipment.

⌁

Low ongoing infrastructure

The game is being designed around local gameplay and saves, with Google Play handling future paid campaign ownership instead of requiring a VARKELD account.

DEVELOPMENT STATUS

Early foundation.
Real progress.

VARKELD is actively being built and physically tested on Android. The playable character, human scale, camera, pinch zoom, simultaneous movement + camera control and held combat actions have now passed physical owner testing. The next step is turning the prototype surroundings into a coherent Viking world.

CURRENT FOCUS · v0.2.10 HRAFNIK, CAMERA & WORLD COLLISION

Turning the first real environment assets into a coherent, physically believable playable village.

The core gameplay is physically verified, and v0.2.9 proved the real environment-asset pipeline with licensed low-poly buildings and props. Development now focuses on replacing the remaining prominent prototype scenery, making Hrafnvik visually coherent, improving camera behavior around dense scenery, and enforcing physical collision so characters, NPCs, enemies and future creatures cannot simply pass through solid objects or one another.

The progress bar is illustrative, not a release-date estimate. No public release date has been announced.
PUBLIC ROADMAP

From foundation
to a living saga.

The internal roadmap is detailed and changes as the game is tested. This public version shows the direction without exposing temporary engineering tasks.

VERIFIED

1 · Playable RPG Foundation

Real rigged character system, mobile movement, simultaneous camera control, deliberate pinch zoom, responsive held combat actions, animation blending, save/respawn, interaction and subtitle foundations, and coherent human/world scale.

NOW

2 · A Cohesive Viking World

v0.2.9 introduced the first real licensed building and prop set. The next step expands that quality across the current Hrafnvik slice and polishes third-person camera behavior around the denser environment.

SAGA

3 · The Ravenborn Saga Integration

Build the canon registry from the manuscripts, define canon characters and appearances, establish the timeline and begin the main quest journey with story cinematics and lore-accurate locations.

LIVING WORLD

4 · Side Stories, NPCs & Discovery

More varied NPCs, creatures and enemies, ambient dialogue, merchants, meaningful side quests, dynamic quest hooks, minigames and optional exploration that never rewrites the main canon.

IDENTITY

5 · Player Identity & Customization

Name, gender/body presentation, appearance, hair, clothing, equipment and a more personal version of the original character who walks through the saga.

EXPANSION

6 · More of The Ravenborn Saga

The first released books form only the beginning. Future books can expand VARKELD with new canon campaigns, locations and characters while previous purchases remain accessible through Google Play.

RELEASE

7 · Android Launch

Final performance, accessibility, content rating, legal, Google Play Billing, purchase restoration, release assets and full launch certification. No VARKELD account is planned for normal play.

THE SOURCE WORLD

The Ravenborn Saga.

VARKELD exists because the books came first. The manuscripts are intended to become the game’s canon source of truth for important characters, chronology, places, relationships and major events.

BOOK I / FIRST GAME CAMPAIGN

The Raven's Legacy

The first campaign foundation for VARKELD. The game is planned to let the player experience the wider world around its canon events without taking the place of the novel’s central characters.

Official Amazon / Kindle links will be added here when the final storefront links are supplied.
THE SERIES CONTINUES

More books. More world.

The Ravenborn Saga is not intended to end after the currently completed manuscripts. Future books can become future VARKELD story expansions if the project continues to grow.

CANON RULE

The player fills the gaps.

Main quests follow the journey of the books. Optional gameplay can make the world larger and more personal, but it must remain compatible with the story the novels establish.

PRIVACY & PRODUCT DIRECTION

Play first.
No account required.

The current design direction is local-first: progression and gameplay live on the device, while future paid campaign ownership is planned through Google Play. The final shipping privacy policy will always be updated to match the actual release build.

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THE JOURNEY IS JUST BEGINNING

VARKELD is being built one layer at a time.

The character and core controls are now in place. The world comes next — then the saga. Follow Nyfir Studios as VARKELD grows from a working Android RPG foundation into a living place where The Ravenborn Saga can be explored from a new point of view.

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