Divinity: Dragon Commander (2013)
Larian Studios' Eccentric Hybrid of Steampunk Cabinet Politics, Board Strategy, and Jetpack Dragons
Divinity: Dragon Commander is a 2013 self-published strategy and role-playing hybrid directed by Swen Vincke at Larian Studios. Set millennia before Divine Divinity in an industrialized steampunk era of Rivellon, it casts players as a half-dragon bastard prince managing parliamentary decrees aboard the flagship Raven, conquering Risk-style maps, and diving into RTS battles wearing a dwarven jetpack.
Parliamentary Satire and Royal Marriages Aboard the Airship Raven
Marking Larian Studios' first major self-published PC launch while funding parallel production of Divinity: Original Sin, Dragon Commander traveled thousands of years backward in Rivellon lore to the assassination of Emperor Sigurd by his mechanized children. Aboard the flying steampunk command vessel Raven, mentored by wizard Maxos, the player's Dragon Knight rules an unruly five-race parliament of Dwarves, Elves, Lizards, Imps, and Undead. Between turns, ambassadors demand binding imperial votes on sharp contemporary policy satire—universal healthcare, conscription, press censorship, union strikes, and marriage equality—forcing players to weigh personal ethics against tax revenue and troop morale while navigating tragicomic courtships with four politically arranged brides, including undead skeleton princess Ophelia.
Hex-Board Conquest Meets Jetpack-Propulsion Dragon Warfare
Strategic turns unfold across a tabletop world map inspired by Risk, where gold, research upgrades, and mischievous saboteur cards prepare armies for invasion. Rather than watching auto-resolved dice rolls, players can drop into real-time strategy skirmishes to capture recruitment citadels alongside quirky generals—and then summon their own avatar directly onto the battlefield as a roaring dragon strapped into an imp-engineered jetpack. Swooping low at supersonic bursts to incinerate dreadnoughts, heal allied legions, and swat enemy bombers out of the sky while Kirill Pokrovsky's brass-and-harpsichord marches swell, Dragon Commander remains one of PC gaming's boldest and weirdest genre experiments.