Return to the world of The Necromancer’s Tale in a stand-alone prequel spanning 30 years of war, black magic and superstition in 18th-century Europe.
October 15, 2026 – Independent studio Psychic Software today announced The Lich Wars, a story-rich Gothic RPG that blends branching interactive fiction with RPG skills and narrative-driven combat. The game is a prequel to the studio’s critically acclaimed CRPG The Necromancer’s Tale, and its reveal trailer is available to watch now.
In The Lich Wars, you begin as a new recruit in the Rychva Musketeers in the alt-history kingdom of Rulsthen, near Venice and are soon thrown into a bloody war won by raising the dead. What follows is a military career shaped by the choices you make, as fear and superstition spread across the land until civil war erupts and the Lich rises.
The story is told through an estimated 300,000 words of hand-written narrative, with skill checks across nine RPG skills and a combat system built on hand-written prose and randomised critical-hit tables. Battles move seamlessly from duels to skirmishes, naval clashes to full-scale battlefield manoeuvres.
The Lich Wars is entirely stand-alone: no knowledge of The Necromancer’s Tale is needed and the two games can be played in either order. Returning players will meet familiar characters earlier in their lives and discover the events that brought necromancy to Rulsthen.
Visually, the branching narrative plays out in a 3D book, while key scenes are staged as hand-painted miniatures on the tabletop beside it. Hundreds of original illustrations, portraits and maps accompany the text. Partial voice acting brings key characters and moments of narration to life.
“In The Necromancer’s Tale, the years between 1700 and 1728 were only a brief prologue, yet players kept asking about them. The Lich Wars is our chance to tell that story properly and to lean into the writing that players responded to most. At its heart it’s a Gothic tale about a society haunted by its past. Necromancy works, but nobody fully understands its cost and every character remembers the war in a way that lets them live with what they did. Those questions about progress, responsibility and the ethics of war feel as relevant today as they did in the 1700s,” said Sam Redfern, lead developer and narrative lead at Psychic Software.
KEY FEATURES
- A Soldier’s Life Across Two Wars: Live a 30-year military career, from the Venetian War of 1701-08 to the civil war of 1727-28, with three main career paths to follow.
- Interactive Fiction Meets RPG: Explore an estimated 300,000 words of branching, hand-written narrative shaped by nine skills spanning physical, social and intellectual abilities.
- Tabletop-Inspired Combat: Fight through duels, naval battles and full-scale warfare in narrative combat driven by randomised critical-hit tables.
- Unreliable Memories: Follow Aleks and three lifelong friends who live through the same events but remember them differently and not always honestly.
- A Hand-Painted Gothic World: Experience the story through a 3D book, tabletop miniatures, hundreds of original illustrations and partial voice acting.
- The Prequel to The Necromancer’s Tale: Discover how necromancy came to Rulsthen and meet familiar characters in their earlier years, in a fully stand-alone adventure.
AVAILABILITY
The Lich Wars is currently in development for PC via Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2245710/The_Lich_Wars/
About Psychic Software
Psychic Software (Psychic Games Ltd.) is an award-winning Game Studio whose founders have been making games since the 1980s, collaborating with various artists, musicians and other game studios. Games range from a car-combat MMO which has been live and online since 2006, to casual smartphone puzzle games achieving millions of downloads, arcade-adventures, platformers, multiplayer online racers, CRPGs and more.
The studio’s previous title, The Necromancer’s Tale, a Gothic open-world-style CRPG, launched on Steam in July 2025 and arrived on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox and GOG in June 2026. Development of The Lich Wars is co-funded by the Creative Media Programme of the European Union.
