Dragon’s Watch remixes the mobile role-playing game style of Asia for the West

The $36 billion mobile market is brutal. Hundreds of games appear every month, and it takes the brand power of Pokémon to knock the long-lived games from the likes of Supercell, King, and MZ from the top spots. The Secret Police hope dragons have a fraction of the power of Pikachu.

The London-based startup announced that it’s working Dragon’s Watch, what it terms as a “battle RPG.” It’s geared for one-handed play (so you can engage in combat and other activities while standing on a bus or subway), and it also has support for online and offline play (a rarity in the free-to-play mobile gaming market). It will come out for mobile platforms some time in 2017.

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Your goal is to rebuild the Dragon’s Watch, a group that watches over the realm of Kagria. You’re seeking lost dragons and heroes. And as you fight your way to your goal, you collect heroes, craft potions, and (of course) take on bosses.

You can see the influence of the team’s inspirations in this formula.

“We’re huge fans of social RPGs like Summoner’s War, Puzzle and Dragons, and Brave Frontier,” Secret Police cofounder Harry Holmwood said. “And wanted to make a game which looks and feels great, is accessible to a wide audience but still has the depth of play and strategy to appeal to hardcore players. We’re really excited to be revealing Dragon’s Watch for the first time, and look forward to launching later this year.”

Secret Police’s backers include Ian Livingstone (a vet of Games Workshop and Eidos) and Hayo Nakayama, who worked at Marvelous and Sega.