The Broken Hourglass (TBH) is the launch title of Planewalker Games LLC, an independent video game studio founded in 2005 to create the kind of computer role playing games that we, the PWG developers, enjoy playing.

Most of the developers attached to TBH are long-time CRPG modders. After a few years, we reached the same point every long-suffering commitment-starved girlfriend in romantic comedies reaches—that moment of crisis when we asked, "Where is this relationship going?" It was time to move on to bigger and better things, one way or another. Yet, as flattering as it was to have thousands and thousands of people download our work every month, something troubled us about whole thing. Sure, we did good work, but the industry didn't seem to be satisfying this obvious demand for content with new titles. The production of story-focused CRPGs with a strong focus on character development and party interaction has slowed to a trickle, despite a significant market clamoring for more.

So we decided to take on the problem directly, rather than wait around for someone else to do it. But it isn't exactly a slam-dunk for a band of amateurs to convince a publisher to back a new project in a market they have proven reluctant to explore even with established studios. Sensible or not, we still believed we could do it, with or without the mainstream industry which has largely turned its back. We believed we could deliver a new CRPG worthy of its predecessors, and worthy of the attention of gamers who can choose from a library of literally tens of thousands of titles to occupy their time.

That brings us to the present. Self-funded, self-developed, and self-directed, we are committed to the under-served CRPG market, and to making The Broken Hourglass an engaging, memorable experience. We look forward to taking you to the world of Tolmira.

In The Broken Hourglass, players control an ordinary citizen of Mal Nassrin, fading star of the Tolmiran Empire. The city is under siege by some unexplained and unidentified magical force--no one may enter or leave, and the city's water supply has been reduced to a trickle. Caught in a devastating explosion which obliterates a large area of the city, you begin the game as a recuperating refugee caught up among an eager group of vigilantes and makeshift militiamen hoping to put the city to rights before complete chaos takes hold.