Tracing the origin of Fable is a fun thing to do. Project Ego, the codename for Lionhead’s fabulous role-playing game, is well-documented. But what is not well-documented is the game that came before it: Wishworld.
Wishworld is the subject of the latest episode of People Make Games, the YouTube series from ex-Eurogamer video person Chris Bratt. It offers a wonderful insight into Wishworld, which sounds nothing much like Fable at all. In fact, in many ways, it sounds more ambitious.
In an interview with Dene Carter, co-creator of Fable, Bratt reveals the kind of game Wishworld was intended to be. You’d play a wizard in an academy who was charged with remaking a barren landscape using a raft of spells. Character archetypes included everything from a Victorian gentleman to a guardian angel and her charge.
Alongside brilliant animation work from People Make Games’ Anni Sayers, Bratt paints a picture of the intriguing Wishworld. You could create fantastic beasts, grow them to enormous sizes and ride them into battle, all the while building mountains that could turn into volcanoes.