Illwinter Game Design is the name of a small

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

company in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

composed of Johan Karlsson and Kristoffer Osterman. The company was started in the 1990s under the name ''Bogus Game Design'', but later changed its name. Registered officially as Illwinter since September 18, 2001, the team's product catalogue includes two long-running series of fantasy strategy games: ''Conquest of Elysium'' and ''Dominions''. Illwinter's games are characterized by large amount of content, depth, lasting playability, support for multiple platforms (

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

Solaris Solaris may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...

and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

included), good multiplayer support and simple visual and sound effects. Labor division within the tiny team is simple: Kristoffer Osterman creates the units, spells and descriptions, while Johan Karlsson makes everything else work. Both Johan Karlsson and Kristoffer Osterman have expressed their love for

role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...

, especially

Ars Magica ''Ars Magica'' is a role-playing game set in 'Mythic Europe' – a historically grounded version of Europe and the Levant around AD 1200, with the added conceit that conceptions of the world prevalent in folklore and institutions of the High Mi ...

and

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player characte ...

s. Kristoffer Osterman teaches religion, math and social sciences as a primary occupation.

Games by Illwinter

*''Conquest of Elysium'' (released in the 1990s for

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...

) *''

Conquest of Elysium II {{no sources, date=December 2022 ''Conquest of Elysium II'' ("II" denotes the version 2.0, the first Windows compatible version) is the title of a computer game produced by the Illwinter Game Design. Conquest of Elysium is a fantasy turn-based str ...

'' (released in 1997) *'' Dominions: Priests, Prophets and Pretenders'' (released in 2001) *'' Dominions II: The Ascension Wars'' (released in the end of 2003) *'' Dominions 3: The Awakening'' (released in October 2006) *'' Conquest of Elysium 3'' (released in February 2012) *'' Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension'' (released in October 2013) *'' Conquest of Elysium 4'' (released in November 2015) *'' Dominions 5: Warriors of the Faith'' (released in November 2017) *''

Conquest of Elysium 5 Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

'' (released in August 2021)

Community

''Dominions 5'' maintains a thrivin
online community

References

External links

Illwinter Game Design
* StrategyWiki entry about Illwinter Video game development companies Video game companies of Sweden Video game companies established in 2001 {{Europe-videogame-company-stub