Serene, ‘tiny’ MMO Book of Travels goes live in October

Book of Travels sounded really intriguing when we got our first proper look at it in late 2020. It’s a “tiny” MMO, without conventional quests and plotlines: Instead, it promises a “collaborative and friendly roleplaying experience” in a serene world where players are living their lives. There will be conflict and combat, but it will be rare and impactful rather than simply a repetitive mechanic driving character advancement.

It was expected to launch into Steam Early Access in August 2021, but at the last minute developer Might and Delight hit the pause button, saying they realized during closed beta testing that they needed more time before the public rollout. Now the studio has settled on a new launch date, revealed today as October 11.

Might and Delight emphasize that while Book of Travels is now fit for public release, it’s still a work in progress and thus there will bugs, balance issues, and limited content. “Chapter Zero” is essentially the game’s first season, but it will last for the duration of the Early Access period, which is expected to last for two years. That might seem like a long stretch, especially with our expectations so skewed by the advent of live service games, but Book of Travels is an ambitious project from a small indie team and I would expect that it’s going to take some time.

Chapter Zero will include a hefty chunk of the planned total game world, including a large trading city named Kasa.

A more detailed development roadmap is on the way, but the first month will be dedicated solely to taking player feedback: “No extra content will be added until we’ve taken that time to closely examine your first impressions,” the studio said.

I’m really eager to try this one. I’ve never really fallen for an MMO because they always quickly become a grind: Stand in line, kill ten rats, collect the stuff, move to the next. Compared to that, the promise of something more open and exploration-focused, especially in such a lovely looking game world, is a genuinely interesting prospect. You can find out more about the game at tmorpg.com.