If you're an avid follower of gaming projects on Kickstarter, you might be already familiar with German studio KING Art Games. They managed to fund and develop RTS Battle Worlds: Kronos and adventure game The Book of Unwritten Tales 2; both of them were critical and commercial successes.

　　Now, KING Art Games has launched a new Kickstarter campaign for a game in yet another genre: The Dwarves is a fantasy RPG based on the best selling novel by Markus Heitz.

　　Creative Director Jan Theysen said:

　　Dwarves – who doesn’t like these bearded mountaineers, with their joyful attitude, love of beer, stubbornness and loyalty? Did you watch The Hobbit and wonder why the epic quest of 12 heroic Dwarves was named after the one little Halfling with the hairy feet? We’ll end this tragedy and put the coolest fantasy race front and center in The Dwarves.

　　Both of our previous crowdfunding campaigns have been a great experience for us. We could make the games the way we’ve envisioned them, and are sure that the final games were improved due to the early community feedback. So for us, it’s a no-brainer to go to Kickstarter once more. If you want more beer, beards and battles in your life, The Dwarves is the game for you.

　　The press release also lists the main features of The Dwarves:

　　Story & Characters: You will follow the story of young Tungdil Goldhand, a dwarf raised among humans, who embarks on a journey to find his lost origin. On his quest, Tungdil will meet up to 12 companions who can join his party, all with individual skills and their own backstory. Among them you’ll find the furious dwarf twins Boindil and Boendal, who’ve fought hundreds of battles. But there are also unusual figures like Rodario, a human actor, who is a weak fighter but knows every dirty trick in the book and can masquerade himself to catch his opponents by surprise.

　　Physics-based combat: The Dwarves will feature an unprecedented, physics-based real-time combat system. Battles will mostly feature a few brave heroes against huge hordes of enemies (think “Helm’s Deep” in The Lord of the Rings). And to fight back hundreds of orcs, but you’ll need some tricks. So imagine a swing of your hammer will not only hit the five orcs closest to you, but will also throw them backwards into the ranks of their filthy brothers… maybe pushing some of them down a cliff. The whole enemy crowd pushes and shoves, squeezes and stumbles all at the same time and it’s pure fun to raise havoc among them with special attacks and powerful spells.

　　World map & exploration: You can travel to over 200 locations on the dynamic map, where you will face enemy troops and varied quests. Your decisions will influence the story – will you face a raiding orc horde and risk your neck or do you allow them to plunder a nearby village? We bet the inhabitants won’t appreciate that! Many of the most important locations on the world map can be visited in detailed 3D isometric levels. Here you can talk to NPCs, trade, and explore the world and its rich history.

　　The Dwarves is currently planned for a mid-2016 release on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Check out the Kickstarter trailer below!