Almost 10 years of searching: from Egypt: Old Kingdom to Next Run

For over 13 years I have been making strategy games under the Clarus Victoria brand.

Since 2015, Clarus Victoria games have found their audience and recognition.

Historical, story-driven strategies about Ancient Egypt and Antiquity turned out to be in a 'blue ocean' - a niche with almost no competition and stable demand.

Egyptologists were involved as consultants, which was highly valued by fans of historical authenticity. At its peak, the team included 20-30 people counting external specialists and close volunteers.

Until 2018, when Egypt: Old Kingdom was released, everything was going well. But then I decided that just churning out sequels was not the right path.

Financial Results

Below are the yearly sales figures, showing how interest in our games grew:

Steam, gross, without deductions

In total, Steam brought in more than $1.4M. Apple added roughly 24.3%. With other stores combined, that's around $2M, with more than 600,000 copies sold worldwide.

Shortcomings of the Games

Despite the successes, fundamental limitations had accumulated:

Defining the Path

I began working on solving these issues already during the development of Predynastic Egypt. I started to study other games more deeply and see how they handled similar challenges. And I noticed: computer and tabletop strategies, RPGs, and simulations actually use the same principles, just packaged in different mechanics.

When I came across universal tabletop systems like GURPS and Savage Worlds, I saw how these shared principles could scale almost infinitely.

It became clear what the games of the future should look like and how many possibilities remain untouched. I decided to focus on this direction.

From that point I started experimenting. Even Egypt: Old Kingdom was made with something bigger in mind. Some ideas found their way directly into it, like map objects such as lions or cursed lands.

The Ideal and Universal Games

After the success of the historical strategies, I moved on to implementing new ideas. The 'Ideal Final Result' (TRIZ method) I defined as creating the ideal computer game.

The ideal game is one where a person can be anyone, do anything, and live in a world indistinguishable from reality. But I understood that the necessary technologies do not yet exist. So the only option was to keep moving in this direction.

On the way to the ideal game, there is an important milestone - the universal game. Its task is simpler: to create mechanics where genres, settings, scales, and roles can be freely combined within a single ruleset.

An analysis of games showed that attempts had been made before, but universality was always incomplete (Cultist Simulator is a good example).

My idea was born from a simple question: what if a game was like communication between the player and the game world in a 'game language'? Just as letters form words, and words form endless phrases, so too could these 'building blocks' create countless game situations. Not through scripted content, but through rules that allow them to combine.

Experiments

This was the beginning of experiments in universality. First - calculations 'on paper,' then - tasks for programmers and artists. From 2018 to 2022, several projects were in development: Egypt New Kingdom, Primal Australia, Population, Adaptarium, Rome. But each of them stalled: attempts at universalization ended in dead ends, and the gameplay became uninteresting.

Not all team members were involved in the experiments, and before long resources started running out. Gradually the team dissolved.

In the last years (2021-2025) I worked alone. This slowed the process down, but gave me full control over everything - from code architecture to game design details. But experiments again and again ran into dead ends: some projects were frozen, others scrapped. Sometimes it seemed the very idea of universality was impossible - after all, even the creators of GURPS had failed to successfully translate their system into a computer format.

Of all the experiments, only Flint Age (2022) made it to release. It came out 'clunky' and inconvenient, but for me it was an important milestone.

After it and a couple of shelved projects, I realized: the genre of historical strategy itself was limiting. I tried something completely different - and the process finally shifted. That is how Next Run was born.

Next Run

Next Run let me realize the principles I had been working toward all this time. This is where the foundations of universality were laid:

Next Run is not yet a fully universal game, but it is a big step in that direction. The game also solves the problem I was most often criticized for - the lack of replayability.

What Players Can Try Right Now

The free demo version offers three classes - Warrior, Mage, and Artisan. Each reveals its own style: from direct force and magic to thoughtful play through crafting and item upgrading. The demo lasts until the third wave of Hell and gives a good sense of what the game is about.

The full version will include more: all 7 classes, progression up to the final eighth wave, different paths to victory (military, magical, crafting, etc.), and also a sandbox mode for free development.

Outlook

Next Run is only the first step. Now it has become possible to return to old settings, but on a completely new level.

In a future strategy about the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, instead of abstract 'workers' there will be named characters: viziers, generals, pharaohs. They will have skills, retinues, equipment. They will be able to fall ill and die. Armies could perish in the desert from thirst.

Taming the Nile will no longer be abstract, but a detailed challenge, where many problems must be solved simultaneously. A builder party under the command of an Architect constructs a pyramid for a specific pharaoh. Events will be integrated into the game as part of the map. Players will be able to play as different characters and nations.

For all this to be possible, the game must be easy to expand, enabling fast creation of vast amounts of new content. And now that has become possible. Universality allows creating content that doesn't just expand the game, but elevates it to a new level.

That is what I have been working toward.