Aetherfall
Building the Fantasy Universe Before the Game
I’ve been building Aetherfall, an original fantasy universe, but I'm approaching it differently from how I originally imagined building a game.
Instead of starting with combat mechanics, cards and progression systems, I'm building the world first.
Aetherfall already has a growing roster of heroes, rival factions, ancient relics, historical ages, conflicts and interconnected lore. I've turned that foundation into an interactive digital Codex where people can explore the universe and interact with parts of its history and characters.
The reason for doing this is simple: I don't want the lore to exist merely because a game needs lore.
I want the eventual game to feel like it takes place inside a world that already has history, characters people recognize, rivalries that matter and mysteries worth discovering.
The longer-term plan is to develop an original card-based strategy game within this universe, but I'm deliberately not rushing there.
Right now, the experiment I'm interested in is:
Can an independent creator make people care about a fictional universe before the main game even exists?
You can explore what I've built so far here:
I'd love feedback from other builders, especially those working on games or entertainment IP:
Would exploring an established world make you more interested in eventually playing a game set inside it, or would you rather discover the world through the game itself?
6 Comments
That’s exactly the signal I’m interested in figuring out. Right now I’m still early enough that I don’t want to claim Codex engagement automatically means game intent.
What I’m looking at first is which parts of the universe people actually choose to engage with — particular heroes/factions, the battle simulator, comparisons, relics and other interactive experiences — rather than just page views.
As the audience grows, I’d like to introduce more explicit signals around the future game, such as following its development or registering interest, so I can start measuring the conversion from “I like exploring this world” → “I want to play something in this world.”
In a way, testing whether that bridge actually exists is one of the most interesting parts of building Aetherfall world-first. If it doesn’t, that’s useful information too.
Appreciate the question — it’s given me something concrete to think about measuring.
Absolutely — I’d be happy to stay in touch and share what I learn as Aetherfall develops. I think that world-engagement → game-intent transition could become a really interesting experiment once there’s enough data to measure it properly.
You can reach me at nishantborthakur@gmail(dot)com
Appreciate the interest, Aryan. Would be great to continue the conversation.
Thanks! I’ve just sent it over.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts whenever you have a chance.