Heroes of Zulula

Based on the 1995 shareware fighting game Champions of Zulula. Heroes of Zulula is a strategy RPG in which you control a ragtag band of ex-gladiators (tournaments are now banned) who seek to banish the evil Akolan from the city. A lot of the character archetypes from Champions are back. Like most strategy RPG you control armies on a strategic map in a turn-based fashion. When units engage in combat, however, the game switches to a rather original combat mode. The typical "run towards my enemy, slash, return to starting position" is replaced with a combat planning/strategy interface. You deploy your troops and give them order, then you press play and watch the combat unfold in a sort of "simulation".

Most of the characters are new and loosely based on their 1995 counterparts. Emphasis is placed on the story, which has a "Trailer Park Boys meet South Park" sort of vibe. So the typical medieval-fantasy bunch is replaced by a slow-poke cyclop, a french knight, a french-canadian slime (who only speaks pure Quebec joual, even in the english version), a chatroom l33t-speaking eye, a straight-man dog, an robotic stone golem, a run-of-the-mill mage and a mercenary snake. The game was voluntarily rated "Teen Content" for Strong Language, Cartoon Violence, Crass Humour and Alcohol Use. It is not for the easily offended.

The game has 10 acts, there is a free ad-supported version and an ad-free version which has a few more features. 2 sequels are already planned.