Mike Morhaime’s new company has released a 'couch co-op' tactical adventure that aims at recreating the experience of traditional tabletop gaming.

Mike Morhaime, who co-founded Blizzard with Allen Adham and Frank Pearce in 1992 as Silicon and Synapse, stepped down from his position as president in 2018. This was more than 25 years since he founded the company. He launched a new venture, Dreamhaven, two years later. Four years after that we finally get to see its first project: a "couch-coop tactical adventure", called Sunderfolk.

Secret Door, one of Dreamhaven's two studios, is developing Sunderfolk. It takes groups of four or more players on an adventure to save the village of Arden against the dark forces of Sunderlands. Choose from six different hero classes: Arcanist, Bard Pyromancer Ranger or Rogue. They will then explore forests, mines and caves in familiar fantasy settings.

Sunderfolk's gameplay is unique. The game will be played on a TV screen or TV monitor. Each player controls their character using their mobile phone or tablet. The idea is that tabletop gaming can be recreated in a "streamlined" manner.

Morhaime stated that "the team at Secret Door and all of us here at Dreamhaven are all about bringing people together around fun experiences." "Sunderfolk has a lot of personality and charm. It also creates epic moments when everyone is directly engaging with each other in order to work out strategies or to celebrate victories. There's nothing like it and we're looking forward to hearing what players think."

Secret Door head Chris Sigaty said that there are "a bunch dedicated board and tabletop games fans" who have been meeting regularly for game nights for many years.

Sigaty explained that developers like to think about what inspires them and how they can make these experiences more accessible so that others can enjoy them just as much as they do. "With Sunderfolk we're excited that we can offer players a game which is easy to pick-up and play, but still challenging to master. We can't wait for the world to see it."

The idea is interesting, but it faces a challenge: As anyone with experience in organizing regular D&D sessions can tell you, getting a group of players together for regular play sessions can be a real pain. Sunderfolk was designed to be played in a group setting, but there are options for days when people can't make the game. The host can choose to control a character that belongs to an absent player or the character can skip the evening and rejoin the party the next time. They will miss out on loot (although other players can share if they wish) but they will earn the same skill cards and levels as everyone else.

You can join Sunderfolk sessions remotely if you don't like to socialize. If you enjoy the game, but are unable to play with other players, or just don't care, you can control multiple characters at once.

Sunderfolk will be released in 2025 on consoles and Steam. You can check out sunderfolk.com and watch a video of some gameplay.