The $60 RPG That Proves AAA Studios Lost Their Way

What if the $60 indie game you've never heard of is everything modern AAA studios forgot how to make? Michael Stevens breaks down Lords of Xulima, the Spanish RPG that proves depth and difficulty aren't dead, they just moved underground. 🎯 What You'll Discover: • Why controlling six characters simultaneously creates strategy AAA studios abandoned for flashy graphics • The brutal economics of true resource scarcity (your food spoils, your gold runs out, your choices stick forever) • How front-row positioning and permanent stat decisions bring back consequences modern games fear 👤 Perfect for: gamers tired of hand-holding tutorials and anyone curious why indie developers are eating AAA lunch money. 📍 Chapters: [00:00] Michael introduces the $60 RPG nobody's talking about [02:00] Six-character party management: why complexity beats convenience [04:30] Resource scarcity done right (spoiler: it's terrifying) [06:45] Combat positioning that actually matters [08:30] Permanent choices and why modern games hate them [10:15] What AAA studios lost when they chased mass appeal Lords of Xulima isn't trying to be your friend. It's trying to be that brutal dungeon master who made you think three moves ahead. The Spanish indie team behind it remembered something the big studios forgot: players actually like being challenged. They want their decisions to matter. They want to fail and try again. While AAA studios pump millions into voice acting and mocap, these developers spent their budget on systems that interact in meaningful ways. Food spoils based on climate. Characters develop based on how you use them. Every choice cascades into consequences you'll feel hours later. 🔔 Never miss an episode: Follow When Rome Burns on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. New episodes drop daily, and tomorrow Michael's covering why ancient Roman logistics make Amazon look amateur. 🔍 Topics: Lords of Xulima, indie RPGs, game design, AAA studios, party-based combat Stream the full show at When Rome Burns ----- Keywords: economic collapse, ancient rome, political meltdowns, naval warfare, history podcast