Telltale Games announces Game of Thrones first episode

Telltale Games has released information on what will be the first of six episodes in their new Game Of Thrones series.  Game details have been sparse so it’s exciting to finally see an official “big” announcement.  The first episode is entitled “Iron from Ice”.  IGN reported yesterday that the game series is centered on a single house which we now know is House Forrester.

House Forrester located in the North in the Wolfswood is sworn to House Glover of Deepwood Motte.  The House is apparently canon appearing in ADwD.

from A Wiki of Ice and Fire
from A Wiki of Ice and Fire

The Telltale announcement also confirms that there are five playable characters, either family members or people who serve the family, who are scattered across Westeros and Essos.  Not only are they trying to achieve similar geographic scale as GoT, Telltale is also attempting to replicate the far reaching consequences of individual actions.  When playing the game, every choice a player makes ripples outward to affect the other members of the House.

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139 Comments

  1. …Hodor?

    Awesome to finally hear some concrete news about this game. Their Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us games are superior in terms of characters and choices than most other games out there.

    Usually TellTale also only releases this kind of information when the game is about to release, so it should come out pretty soon!

  2. Well, they have also announced:

    “The events in our game series begin towards the end of Season Three of the TV show, and end right before the beginning of Season Five.”

    Too bad, I was so looking forward to

    march with Stannis through the Wolfswood and fight against the Boltons 🙁

    But it still looks and sounds very awesome, and I still can’t wait for it!

  3. Xeno:
    Messy Justin Massey,

    If they do a Season 2 of this game I have a feeling that’s likely where it would head

    Ah, you’re totally right!
    Expecting this will become a huge success (I mean, hey, it’s Telltale and it’s GOT!), a second season seems more than likely 😀

  4. Awesome! I can’t wait for this.

    Everybody was wondering what “Iron From Ice” would mean and it turns out that they are the words of House Forrester. I wonder if GRRM gave that to them or if Telltale made it up and he agreed to use that?

  5. I hope they bring in more of the, uh.. grandeur from the books as opposed to just the show. I mean, in theory, the main reason the show isn’t as epic is because they lack the time and resources, but in a video game format, they don’t have these restrictions.

    So I fully expect to see epic forts and keeps and a scaled-up King’s Landing and ALL of the unadulterated craziness of Essos. I just hope it’s as more like S1 of TWDG and.. not so much S2.

  6. Marie,

    Oh, I’m sure they’ll have playable female characters. Telltale has many female characters in the TWD game so I would be surprised if they didn’t include any here.

  7. Is ” canon” the word of the month or something? Everyone seems to be using it.

    But, the game should be good!

  8. 6 episodes as well, instead of the usual for a TellTale game which is 5. Also interesting to hear that there will be multiple playable characters… I wonder how that will work. Will they have us play as different characters each episode or do they give us choice in terms of choosing which character you want to play as throughout the entire game? Also is this confirmed as being set in the TV universe? Because I did hear at some point that it will be set in the Books Universe, just like their Walking Dead games are set in the comic book world as opposed to the TV adaptation. Regardless words cannot express how excited I am about this game haha.

  9. Nightflayer,

    It sounds like you will play a different character in each episode since at the beginning of the game they are all in different locations, like King’s Landing, the Wall, Ironrath, etc. I would guess they all come back together in the last episode.

    And yes, it is in the TV universe.

  10. Nightflayer,

    It’s in the TV universe and the five playable characters aren’t a choice, they each have a storyline kinda like those in GOT, so I bet you switch between them in each episode

  11. jentario,

    I could be wrong but that’s just how I interpreted it.

    Also, I just realized that I missed that the blog post says you will even be in Essos. That’s really interesting, I can’t imagine what a Forrester would be doing across the Narrow Sea. Maybe in Braavos?

  12. davyJones,

    I’ve heard, from people that have played a little of it, that it’s going for a “living oil-painting” visual style… so a similar stylised approach as their previous games, with The Wolf Among Us using the style of the comics, and The Walking Dead having its own style, whatever that is.

    Edit: Actually, the “living oil-painting” description is from a Telltale staff member.

    https://twitter.com/jobjstauffer/status/531640168231362560

    “Playing two games today at the office. One looks a lot like my favorite FPS, the other like a living oil painting. Very excited. ;)”

    Assuming that he’s referring to the GoT game as that style, and not an FPS. Also, judging from the two images in this article, it seems to be that style they’re using.

  13. Since the game begins towards the end of season 3 and the Forresters are bannermen to House Stark, will the Red Wedding figure into this, possibly as the climax of episode 1?

  14. Hodoreo,

    Then I must be god. He auditioned for the role of an Unsullied soldier, so, if he’s cast, he’s an Unsullied soldier. Rather anti-climactic. Still, how do you know he’s been cast? I don’t see anything about it anywhere, except for a forum comment just today.

    Anyway, some fans get way too excited about minor casting news, expecting a nobody to play secondary but crucial roles from the books, such as Emma Maguire’s “Winterfell worker” taking the role of Jayne Poole… when, most likely, they will be featured extras.

  15. Luka Nieto,

    Stalwart Shield? And don’t you crap on the last shred of hope for the Winterfell storyline being anything like the books with your sensible thoughts!

  16. Luka Nieto:
    Hodoreo,

    Then I must be god. He auditioned for the role of an Unsullied soldier, so, if he’s cast, he’s an Unsullied soldier. Rather anti-climactic. Still, how do you know he’s been cast? I don’t see anything about it anywhere, except for a forum comment just today.

    Anyway, some fans get way too excited about minor casting news, expecting a nobody to play secondary but crucial roles from the books, such as Emma Maguire’s “Winterfell worker” taking the role of Jayne Poole… when, most likely, they will be featured extras.

    Hmm, that person in that post is another person from the show Love/Hate. He’s an Irish actor called Aaron Heffernan who is actually buddies with Jack Gleeson irl. Ian Lloyd Anderson is a different guy altogether, though Watchers on the Wall have followed his twitter profile, so they must know something…

  17. Ironrath is such a badass name for a House’s keep. Can’t wait to play as house Forrester.

    Deepwood Motte!

  18. I think it may be possible that they are being extremely tight lipped about casting plans for the Northern storylines. I’m not sure exactly why, but since it’s probably the most significant storyline in Books 4 & 5, IMO, it makes sense why they’re tight lipped about it. It’s also difficult to imagine how they would run that storyline without the likes of Manderly, or any kind of “major” casting. I wish they would just give us some kind of sign.

    Have they even begun filming ANYTHING in the North yet? If not, that also makes sense why we haven’t heard anything yet. We typically hear about casting closer to filming dates than vice versa.

  19. Luka Nieto,

    Edit: Wanted to put the following in spoiler tags, but they don’t seem to work for me

    To be fair, Emma Maguire does have an uncanny resemblance to

    Maisie

    , so I can see where they’re coming from. But yeah, she’s probably just a featured extra.

  20. “the first of six episodes, which will be arriving for download soon on PC/Mac, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and iOS, with additional platforms to be announced.”

    I’m hoping those “additional platforms” include at least one of: Linux/SteamOS, Android, or OUYA, because I’d like to play it.

  21. Greenjones,

    She’s completely overshadowed by the dead one, poor girl. I couldn’t find much either. Not even her age or a picture.

    She could be the Waiff or Maggy

  22. Her Universal artists page is posted on the Westeros forum. It says she plays 40-45, she’s dark blonde, attractive and of average height. The only thing that stands out is that she speaks fluent French and Spanish and is good at European accents.

    My guess is she’s Dornish or a minor speaking part from Essos.

  23. Deepwood Motte! – Any new information that has insufficient evidence/information/importance to either be linked to anywhere else or to be not linked to Deepwood Motte must therefore be about Deepwood Motte.

    I like it.

  24. I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried many man-tears at the end of the Walking Dead Season 1 Telltale game.

    I’m stoked for GoT!

  25. ctid,
    Duly noted! I still haven’t had a chance to update the Lexicon page but I am taking notes on what to add to it, so thanks.

    Mine is the Furry,
    LMFAO

    Patchy Face,
    Sorry, but that’s a bit too cryptic. Are you saying they are making a “making of” video or that they are about to release one or ?????

  26. Patchy Face,

    Pretty funny 🙂

    Hm, I wonder where the scorpion will fit in. The location seems to be the beach where Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Jerome Flynn filmed Jaime and Bronn arriving in Dorne and other scenes. One of them involved killing a viper, if I remember correctly, but not a scorpion. Well, we’ll see.

    Also, notice Dave Hill seems to imply he was on set when this was happening. Writers are usually only in the filming of episodes they wrote, right? Except for D&D, who produce the show as well as writing most of the episodes. And we know Jaime arrives in Dorne in episode 3. So… do we know know Dave Hill is writing episode 3, or is that a stretch?

  27. Luka Nieto,

    If I remember correctly, there’s usually one of the writers present on the set to advise the crew and resolve whatever script/worldbuilding problems there are, etc. It isn’t necessarily the writer whose episode is being filmed because scenes are shot out of episode order, with multiple directors working on their respective episodes in Croatia, for instance, then moving to N Ireland, etc.

  28. SamJam199:
    Um,yeah they have to,otherwise is not based on the show anymore since there could be major inconsistencies .

    The show has never shown Ironrath. Or the Wolfswood. Or most Essosi cities. Or King’s Landing in depth. Or, like 75% of locations mentioned in the books.

    Do you get what I’m saying now or you still out of the loop?

  29. Patchy Face,

    Well, yeah, but he’ll write an episode this season. D&D will still write 7 and Cogman 2, since GRRM will not write an episode for season 5.

    Renly’s Peach,

    Huh… you said you wanted them to do a bigger King’s Landing, so now that you say you meant locations we’ve not seen in the show, you’re contradicting yourself.

  30. Al Swearengen,

    You’re not a fan of D&D. We get it! You don’t need to keep reminding us as though we’re going to forget and confuse you with their biggest fan. If you’re going to keep posting try adding a little more to what you say please.

  31. Mine is the Furry,

    Now there’s a man who likes to milk a story for all it’s worth. Although I’m still not sure why he couldn’t have made King Kong into a trilogy. Still a better love story than Twilight.

  32. Are these Telltale games first-person PoV games or are they 3rd-person PoV (like the Diablo series)? What platform are they best played on?

    [Getting ideas for X-mas gifts]

  33. Hodor’s Bastard,

    If they are like their recent games The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us (which is very likely, Telltale said as much) then neither. There isn’t really a genre yet for what Telltale does these days, but narrative focused adventures comes close, or as Wikipedia calls them episodic interactive drama graphic adventures. 😀
    The “PoV” is like in a film, that means non-specific. The game will be realised for Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

  34. Hodor’s Bastard,

    It’s gonna be a third-person game, in a sense. But not really. Telltale games have a fixed camera following the player. Kinda like any old point-and-click adventure game (Monkey Island, etc.) By the way, Diablo isn’t third person either —it is “in the third person”, but that kind of POV is usually called isometric. For a game to be considered a third person game, the camera usually has to be just behind the shoulder or generally behind the protagonist. Anyway, it doesn’t matter much, because Telltale games are not action games at all.

    They are basically the evolved, modern form of the aforementioned point-and-click graphic adventures. The action, as well any kind of interaction with the world, is limited to basic movement and QTEs (pressing buttons at certain specific moments which are explicitly prompted on-screen). Their games are all about conversations and the choices made therein. That’s the true core of Telltale games, which I think works best for a Game of Thrones game; despite being a fantasy show full of blood, it doesn’t actually have that much action and it certainly isn’t the focus of the story. A GoT action game would be nice, but it probably wouldn’t capture the spirit of the novels or the show at all, which this game could in fact achieve.

    If you are not familiar with the point-and-click classics or these new cinematic adventures, and if can’t picture how it works based on my description, take a look at a “Let’s play” of The Walking Dead or The Wolf Among Us on Youtube. It will give you an idea of how it will work here. If you were expecting an action game, you may be disappointed. But if you were expecting it to capture the appeal of ASOIAF and GoT, this may be exactly what you were looking for.

  35. Abyss,

    It’s technically called “point and click”, I think.

    EDIT: Luka said it first, now I’m going to kill myself. Or just sleep or something.

  36. Hodor’s Bastard:
    Are these Telltale games first-person PoV games or are they 3rd-person PoV (like the Diablo series)? What platform are they best played on?

    [Getting ideas for X-mas gifts]

    They play beautifully on iOS. I’m planning on downloading the game to my iPhone 5s

  37. Turncloak,

    They still play the best on a PC, as long as your PC is powerful enough. But yeah, considering few games are even remotely playable on a touch-based device, it’s a blessing to be able to do so with these point-and-clicks: with their lack of complex mechanics or interfaces, it’s easy to port them to a touchscreen device, which you can’t say about pretty much any other genre of videogames.

  38. jentario,

    Yes, technically, but as Luka Nieto pointed out, they are the evolved form of them and because of that I feel “point-and-click” doesn’t really hit the mark.

    Luka Nieto,

    There is a GoT action game, it’s called Game of Thrones (lol), but from what I hear, it’s not that good. – There was another one, but I can’t remember the name atm..

  39. Abyss,

    It was an action RPG, which seems perfect for this universe… but it was shite. For a videogame, that is; it wasn’t unplayable —few games are completely worthless, which is a distinction to other media. A game can have a shitty story or setting or everything else but still have a functioning gameplay, which makes it at least entertaining.

    But yeah, that 2012 game was utterly forgettable. It received like a 55 or so on Metacritic, which is ridiculously low. If you are used to movie or TV scores, it may not seem like it, but a game has to be simply technically playable in order to get a 5 or a 6 out of 10. It’s the 4 of movies. Which is kinda funny because that didn’t seem to be the issue with the game; the story was good enough (for the low expectations adapted games are held to.) The technical side was at fault; it looked and sounded like shit and the combat was dull.

  40. Turncloak: They play beautifully on iOS. I’m planning on downloading the game to my iPhone 5s

    And that’s what’s wrong with society today, playing video games on an iPhone smh.

    What’s next watching movies on an Ipad……..

  41. Al Swearengen,

    I didn’t catch that. I misread it as “iPad”, which is at least big enough. Please, Turncloak, don’t play it on the iPhone. It’d be a waste of the project’s visual artistry, and you’d get frustrated because the screen is simply not big enough for the gameplay.

  42. Luka Nieto: few games are completely worthless, which is a distinction to other media

    I don’t know about that. At least you can still watch a shitty movie or read shitty book, some games are just broken on realise and are never patched to a playable state. Assassins Creed Unity apparently runs like arse for many people and that’s an AAA-title, don’t get me started on some indie games. 😀

  43. Luka Nieto,

    What episode was the Dragon Pit in? What about the exterior of the tower of the hand? Or the moat around it? Or a Sept of Balor that’s consistent and doesn’t change every season? Jesus christ you people

  44. Renly’s Peach,

    “We people”, huh? Yes, yes, crazy person. Move along.

    You EXPLICTLY said they should design a bigger Red Keep than on the show. Then you said you didn’t mean they should change things we had already seen in the show. If you don’t see the contradiction there, I can’t help you. But having seen your other “views” on other articles… well, I wouldn’t be surprised.

  45. Abyss,

    Believe me, he doesn’t care for your well-reasoned arguments, or anyone else’s. It seems that for him the show has the fatal flaw of… not being the books. As many other people, I enjoy the books and the show on their own terms, while not separating them completely and allowing for criticism of the adaptation; and, conversely, I also praise the changes that make the source material even better.

    This might sound condescending, but who cares: I pity the lens through which some fans see the show; it saddens me that they can’t just enjoy the books and also the show on its own terms, or if they truly can’t, that they aren’t able to just ignore the show.

  46. Maggie Hayes (the recent unidentified castmember) looks to me like the unidentified Septa from the leaked photo with Jonathan Pryce. She has tweeted from Dubrovnik in September and Belfast last week and has since September been following Hannah Waddingham whom we know has been cast as Septa Unella.

  47. Luka Nieto:
    Al Swearengen,

    I didn’t catch that. I misread it as “iPad”, which is at least big enough. Please, Turncloak, don’t play it on the iPhone. It’d be a waste of the project’s visual artistry, and you’d get frustrated because the screen is simply not big enough for the gameplay.

    Don’t worry I am a mobile gaming fanatic. I’ve played handhelds since the gameboy pocket so small screens are to my liking. Also, the retina screen display of the 5s is gorgeous. I also have small hands so the iPhone 5s feels aesthetically comfortable to hold. Telltale point and click games run wonderfully on iOS. For serious/challenging games I use my flat screen tv but for simple games, the iPhone screen works very well. I’ve already played Telltale’s the Walking Dead episode 1 on my phone and have no complaints. Telltale’s games are something I wouldn’t play at home but they are great to pass the time while commuting to work and such

  48. ctid,

    Right, so probably Septa Moelle or whatever her name was. I was under the impression that the other Septas were extras, but maybe not

  49. jentario:
    Abyss,

    It’s technically called “point and click”, I think.

    EDIT: Luka said it first, now I’m going to kill myself. Or just sleep or something.

    You can always kill yourself in the sleep. The best of both worlds, right? 😉

  50. I wonder if the episodes are going to be longer than those of The Walking Dead. If the game features its multiple characters every episode, and if they are spread all over westeros, it seems to me that they will get very little individual “screentime” if the game sticks to its usual episode length.

  51. Crozyr,

    Didn’t WD have an episode with like 4 or 5 playable characters? I think it was called 400 Days or something. I’m guessing it will follow that format.

  52. SamJam199:
    Al Swearengen,

    Speak more softly please. Al has a right to dislike certain aspects of the show, vent about it, and not be told to “f— off” because people find it irritating. Just ignore the posts if it bothers you so and refrain from personal attacks.

  53. ctid:
    If you put Deepwood Motte! in the lexicon I think my life would be complete.

    Have you ever seen Olivia Newton John in “Grease”? If not, then your life is far far from over. Go live!

  54. Mine is the Furry: Have you ever seen Olivia Newton John in “Grease”?If not, then your life is far far from over.Go live!

    I have seen her in it but Deepwood Motte! is the one that I want.

    oo oo oo

    * also, did you know that in South America Grease is called Vaselina? *

  55. ctid,

    Look at me I’m Deepwood Motte
    Lousy with that Greyjoy lot
    Won’t give up the dream till I’m on the screen.
    I cant I’m Deepwood Motte.

  56. My criticism of D&D is not what they left out or modified from the books, but rather that I think that up until this past season, they are poor writers, or that they have intentionally “dumbed down” their scripts to appeal to a wider audience. I also disapprove of their directing styles and choice of directors used so far. There have only been a handful of episodes where I felt they were shot beautifully. This why this show, IMO, is not in the same league as other HBO shows less popular.

  57. Abyss,

    If you noticed I am being utterly subjective. Yes, GoT is the most popular HBO show of all time, but you still have to take into consideration how advanced technology has assisted that fact. Its similar to movie box office ticket sales. A movie today will gross more than a movie 10 years ago selling the same amount of tickets based on inflation of ticket prices. It doesn’t necessarily mean its a better movie. More people have easier access to watch HBO today than they did 10 years ago with or without a paid subscription.

  58. Abyss,

    Luka Nieto,

    Oh honeh. Not everything is an attack on your precious show.
    My first – and only – argument was that bringing the source to a new medium (video games) we’d be able to see things the show can’t show. Then you take that statement and once again somehow turn it into an alleged attack on Dungeons and Dragons’ work of art.

  59. Mine is the Furry,

    I’m aware that most of your post was subjective. That’s fine, of curse. I have to say though, saying that D&D are poor writers (up until this past season) is pushing it for me. They are the show runners of a widely critically acclaimed and popular show, clearly they no what they doing.
    But besides that point: I agree that a big part of GoT wide appeal is because of “new media”, but ultimately it does not matter why GoT is the most popular show HBO has ever made, only that it is.

    Renly’s Peach,

    I did not respond to your first post, I responded to this one. And please stop being so condescendingly, it only deflates your points.

  60. Abyss,

    Nevertheless that’s my stance. However I do feel that S4 was their best output to date and I am looking forward to what they have in store for S5. If GoT continues with that same quality of writing for the last three seasons, then I can forgive the inadequacies of the first three seasons and will probably place GoT on the same tier as other elite HBO series on my Rygar subjective shelf.

  61. Mine is the Furry,

    I still think the first season was their best. The writing was good per whole season and most of all I felt it was organic, no jarring differences from to to ep, and the cinematography was excellent. While for other HBO shows I didn’t feel like I could choose which season was best (see: Boardwalk or Deadwood)

  62. Abyss:

    And please stop being so condescendingly, it only deflates your points.

    Lol no, it really really doesn’t.
    Your post was telling me the show is expansive. Okay. And? I’m talking about the game, on the game thread. About the game. Why would you want to see every location depicted in the show again in game form? Why would you not want to see new locations from the books?

  63. OT:
    Liam Cunningham gives hints about season 5 and talks about others stuff. The most interesting part is probably that he will finish filming in the first week of December, but could be that that was already known.

    Renly’s Peach,

    Look, the post I responded to was about the show, not the game, so my point stands. And yes, being condescending to people does deflates your point. – Btw, I was a bit condescending myself in my first response to you and I apologize for that.

  64. Abyss,

    First part is really interesting. He once again confirms the 7 seasons plan, but also he says “the interesting thing is….no that’s a spoiler” and shortly after “we’re a bit overtaking the books”. Battle of Winterfell?

  65. jentario

    Could be that we get to see behind her “magic mask” (that is if she has it in the books or they decide to go down this rode anyway) or she uses it on Marce.
  66. Abyss,

    This is pretty big news, actually!

    He strongly implies the books are being overtaken in his storyline, which reaffirms the Battle for Winterfell will take place in Season 5 (assuming Davos is not going to White Harbor or Skargos… which seems likely), as many of us already assumed —if there’s something D&D have generally done better than the books (especially AFFC and ADWD) is contain story arcs within seasons. The season can’t climax right before the battle. Still, it’s good to have something so close to an actual confirmation.


    Here is what he said:

    [GRRM] is just half-way through the sixth book, at the minute, and we are on season five. So, what’s gonna happen is —we’re about to overtake the books. So, everybody that was kinda going “Oh, I know what happens, I know what happens”; they’re not gonna know what happens anymore, because we’re about to overtake [the books]. So, for the rest of the possible two seasons that are left, everything is gonna be a surprise to everybody, which is kinda cool.

    He also says that Melisandre’s witchy actions will be particularly interesting this season.

  67. jentario,

    Methinks

    leeches, during the battle of Winter (assuming it is indeed in) and the For the Watch aftermath. Although, I think leaving unJon for the start of S6 might be better.
  68. Did you guys catch the references to GOT in HBO’s “The Comeback”? One of the (fictional) producers said “I’m going to Ireland tomorrow”. Plus of course the “All men must die” posters.

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