There was a time in my life when you could slap the word “Dragon” in just about any title and I would check it out. As long as the game/book/movie delivered on its promise of at least one dragon, I was a happy camper. Who am I kidding? I still feel a giddy rush whenever I see that word anywhere. I mean, c’mon, Dragons are pretty friggin’ cool, right? I am waiting for the end of this “Dragon Age.” Until then…

To accompany the release of BioWare’s/EA’s Dragon Age: Origins, EA 2D has been working closely with the Origins team to develop Dragon Age Journeys: The Deep Roads, a Flash-based, single-player, tactical RPG series. Game development is being led by Daniel Stradwick, the brains behind the widely popular The Monster’s Den, a turn-based dungeon exploration series that gives me massive amounts of nostalgia for the board game Hero Quest. Animation is being handled by Adam Phillips of Bitey Castle, with additional programming by Andrew Sega (Mytheria, Armor Wars, two games inspired by Magic: The Gathering). Add these all together, throw in a dash of hex grid goodness, and you have a recipe for a fantasy gamer’s Flash-based paradise.

Planning on an October 2009 beta release for the first three chapters (entitled The Deep Roads), producer Ethan Levy has been slowly releasing details on the BioWare Blog, including a riveting post about colon-location for the title Dragon Age Journeys: The Deep Roads. While EA 2D hasn’t released very much information about gameplay yet, this looks like a fairly standard tactical RPG. Battles take place on a hex grid with a turn-order bar at the top, HP and MP/SP bars for your characters/opponents, and a variety of different special abilities/tactics. Characters can be equipped with different weapons and armor/accessories, and can be developed along different talent trees as the gamer so wishes. There’s dwarves and elves and darkspawn (oh my!), and of course, most importantly, there are dragons.