Developer Pixel Mage Games just announced a new “open world rogue-like fantasy game” called Hero’s Song on Twitch . But why should you care about yet another pixel art action RPG with the usual fantasy trappings?

That depends… are you one of the thousands of people baying for the release of Kingkiller Chronicle Book 3? Patrick Rothfuss , author of the Kingkiller Chronicle , makes a surprise appearance in the Hero’s Song announcement video. If you like Pat Rothfuss, then Hero’s Song might just be your next opportunity to experience a fantasy world guided by his particular skillset.

‘Hero’s Song’ Kickstarter Video, Featuring ‘Kingkiller Chronicles’ Author Pat Rothfuss

“I have been working with the Pixel Mage team, helping them to create the world this game is going to be set in,” Rothfuss says. “If you enjoy good roleplaying, good worldbuilding, good mythology, good story, then you should really consider jumping on board here.”

They’re looking for $800,000 on Kickstarter .

John Smedley, founder and CEO of Pixel Mage, described Hero’s Song in the Kickstarter announcement video as “an incredibly deep fantasy sandbox game.” The big draw is the elaborate mythology of Hero’s Song , which includes “a geological simulation all the way through time.”

“What a lot of people don’t know about me, actually, is that long before I started trying to write a novel, I actually tried to write a computer game,” Rothfuss said in the Hero’s Song announcement video.

Rothfuss was involved with the development of the Hero’s Song world and history. One of the most interesting features of the robust Hero’s Song cosmology is the role gods play. The god you worship determines a number of story elements, such as where you go when you die. But even better is the capacity for your player character to achieve godhood, becoming a being that other Hero’s Song players can opt to worship.

In the Twitch video announcement Smedley calls Hero’s Song “The love child of Dwarf Fortress , Diablo 3 , and Ultima Online .” According to Rothfuss, who joined the Twitch discussion, Hero’s Song hasn’t held up the writing for Kingkiller Chronicle Book 3 since Rothfuss didn’t actually do any writing. “I’ve got a book due. A book I really need to finish and people are anxious for,” Rothfuss told Pixel Mage Games. Instead he advised over long calls during the development of Hero’s Song .

Smedley chimed during the Twitch launch, saying, “I am as anxious about Book 3 as every single other fan of Pat’s… I’m going to make sure that the time we use him for is valuable and that we’re not going to take him away from his book writing.”