Among the announcements emerging from Gen Con, Free League Publishing has confirmed it will be working with the award-winning Italian studio Two Little Mice to bring a new anime-style roleplaying game to market.
The game, titled Twilight Sword, promises an epic adventure with a distinctive, hopeful tone.
In Twilight Sword, players will take on the roles of Champions tasked with a formidable quest: to restore hope to the beleaguered lands of Radia. The world has been overcome by desperation, and the only path to salvation leads through the Fortress of Evil. There, the Champions must confront the source of this blight, a scourge known as Vardas, in a final battle that will determine the fate of their world.
The game cites inspirations that will be immediately familiar to fans of classic video games and animation. The design team points to the epic quests of The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy, the charming world-building of Ni No Kuni, and the heartfelt, painterly storytelling of Studio Ghibli’s animated films. This suggests a game focused on grand adventure, emotional resonance, and a distinct aesthetic.
Two Little Mice is the studio behind the ENNIE-award-winning game Household, a roleplaying game set entirely within a single, sprawling abandoned house, which Free League also publishes. Their previous work, such as the pulp-adventure system Broken Compass, demonstrates a flair for creating evocative and well-defined settings. Partnering again with Free League, a publisher of note known for high-quality productions like The One Ring and Vaesen, lends significant weight to the 2026 project.
One of the more unusual features announced for Twilight Sword is its physical format. The game will be presented as an 11.5×21 cm hardcover book. When opened, it will form a perfect square, with each two-page spread designed with a grid of squares and rectangles. The creators state this layout is intended to keep all necessary information organised and easily accessible during play, a practical design choice for a potentially complex game.
Twilight Sword is currently slated for a 2026 release.
