A new game for the Commodore 64. Not a port, not a remake: an adventure built for the 64 in 2026, in the spirit of the games we grew up on.
Coming 2026 from Comm-Adore.
The story
Long before the shadow stretched from the high peaks of the North, there was the Crown of Power, the sovereign heart of Hazelwood, through which the eight sacred pillars of the realm were held in perfect balance.
When the Dragon Lord Morvath first marched upon the kingdom with ash and iron, King Aldan the True saw that an undivided power could fall to a single blow. To preserve the realm, the King made the ultimate sacrifice: by ancient rite, the Crown was broken into eight sacred Shards and cast into the far corners of the land. Each piece was sealed within a hidden sanctuary, guarded by trials not merely of steel, but of spirit and virtue.
Deprived of a single prize, Morvath's conquest stalled. Yet without the Crown united, Hazelwood began to wither. The ancient forests grew twisted and dark, clean waters choked to mire, and fear turned neighbor against neighbor in the forgotten towns.
Now Morvath gathers his armies once more, sending foul creatures to unearth the Shards and corrupt the guardians who hold them.
Hazelwood calls for its hero. Not a conqueror seeking glory, but one worthy of the eight trials: to brave the wild, cleanse the fallen sanctuaries, and restore the Crown of Power before the northern winter consumes the realm forever.
How it plays
Think of the top-down action of The Legend of Zelda and the talking of Ultima IV, on one disk, on a 64.
- Explore with a sword in your hand. Eight regions slide into one another screen by screen: the Hazel Vale, the Tanglewood, the Cinder Wastes, the Mirelands, the Saltreach, the Greyholm Moors, the Highcrags and the Frostmarch. Goblins, wolves, bandits, spiders, pirates, wraiths, trolls and worse wander them. Creatures chase you, throw things, and remember when you run.
- Talk to people. Really talk. Walk up to anyone and type what you want to ask about, as in Ultima. The well-keeper, the farmer, the king and the pirate each know something, and what they say changes with what you have done. Your reputation follows you: help people and doors open; refuse them and they remember that too.
- Earn trust before you earn a Shard. Each region's sanctuary is sealed until its people trust you, and trust is earned by doing what they ask: find a lost sheep, clear the orcs from a farm, carry a letter to the dwarves, bring a candle to a dark abbey. Dozens of tasks, with a journal that keeps track.
- Eight sanctuaries, eight trials. Each one is a dungeon with its own idea: a hall you must endure, a grove where vines are cut in order, a kiln of lava and crust, a chapel drowning in the tide, a tower of winds, an ossuary of bells, a forge of mirrors and beams, a vault of sliding ice. Each ends in a guardian that has to be beaten its own way.
- A living world. A day lasts twenty minutes. Night falls and the wild turns dangerous unless you carry a lamp and oil for it. Seasons turn: rain, fog, snow, a white winter. Townsfolk go home at dusk. Sleep at an inn, or camp with a bedroll and risk an ambush. Fish. Sail a reed skiff through the marsh and a ship out past the reefs.
- Four spells, no mana. LIGHT, HEAL, THAW and WARD are learned from teachers and cast from reagents you buy or gather. No magic points: the ingredients are the cost.
- A tune for every place. Each region and sanctuary has its own music, with sound effects on the third voice.
- Save and carry on. Save to disk at any time with F1, and continue from the title.
Why we are excited about it
The 64 had great action games and great role-playing games, and it hardly ever had both in one box. Times of Lore came closest. Ultima IV had the conversations and the virtue but moved a tile at a time. Zelda had the sword but lived on another machine. Hazelwood is the game we wished for in 1988: Zelda's feel in your hands, Ultima's depth in your head, and a story with an ending that depends on how you played.
It also runs on any Commodore 64. PAL or NTSC, no RAM expansion, no fast loader needed. It ships on one disk image, and it was built and tested on a Kung Fu Flash cartridge, which is how most of us run disk images today. Every place loads as you walk into it, so the whole realm fits.
The numbers
- 8 regions, 8 sanctuaries, 9 towns and villages, and the Blackspire at the end of it all.
- Over 100 people to talk to, each with their own words.
- 80 tasks to take on, in a journal.
- More than 80 kinds of creature.
- 17 tunes.
- One D81 disk image. 64K. No expansion.
On the PC, too
Hazelwood is coming to the PC and the web browser as well: the same realm and story in a world of 3D blocks. See the PC version >
When
Hazelwood is in its final playtest. We will post progress on the blog, and this page will say when it is ready and how to get it.
Can't wait? Become a founder: play the early builds now, help us find the last bugs, and get your name on the Founders' Shrine in the finished game. Limited number accepted.
Hazelwood: The Crown of Power. A Comm-Adore game, 2026.