Old Collegian’s “The Forgotten City” prepares for worldwide launch

June 24, 2021

The saying goes that “all roads lead to Rome”.

Former St Patrick’s College student Nick Pearce (SPC 1994-99) is hoping that idiom holds true as he prepares a worldwide launch of a new video game next month, which is set in ancient Rome.

Nick runs a video game studio in Melbourne called Modern Storyteller which has created the new game “The Forgotten City” which will be released across all consoles and in seven different languages on July 28.

“Back when I was at St. Pat’s, I studied Classical Civilizations, learned computer programming, and won the English Literature Prize in 1999,” Nick said.

“At the time I had no idea where all that would lead, but 22 years later, I am a video game developer, about to release a game set in ancient Rome, with a script that won me an Australian Writer’s Guild award.

“It is fascinating to me that I’d unwittingly begun my current career path at St Pat’s all those years ago, just by pursuing the things that I found interesting!”

Nick’s launch also has the backing of Film Victoria.

According to Nick, the game aims to take its players back in time 2000 years to investigate an unusual mystery.

“Here’s the official spiel,” Nick said.

“The Forgotten City is a mystery adventure game of exploration and deduction, and a re-imagining of the critically acclaimed mod that won an Australian Writers’ Guild award and racked up over 3 million downloads.

“You’ll discover the ruins of an ancient Roman city, travel back in time 2000 years, and investigate the mystery of who or what turned an entire city’s populace into eerie golden statues – all while caught in a time loop.

“Only by questioning an intertwined community of colourful characters, making difficult moral choices, and cleverly exploiting the time loop, can you hope to solve this epic mystery.”

More details on The Forgotten City can be found at this link.