We sat down with Alexey Naumenko, Studio Director at Black Tower Basement, to discuss Defender of the Crown: The Legend Returns – a full-throated remake of the 1980s strategy classic of the same name
PSU: What made you folks think of resurrecting the forty year old Defender of the Crown in the first place and why do you feel the game has carved out such a niche in the minds of old crusties like me?
Alexey Naumenko (Black Tower Basement): We believe certain IPs remain highly relevant in today’s market. For example, Defender of the Crown’s short gameplay sessions translate very well to modern gaming and resemble the session structure popular in today’s roguelite games.
That’s one of the reasons the game has carved out a niche in people’s minds: it features unique ideas that, with some fine-tuning, still feel fresh and applicable today. One of our directors is also a longtime fan of the IP, so it helps that we have people on the inside who are passionate about it.
PSU: In Defender of the Crown: The Legend Returns, refined mechanics are cited as a rather big thing. Could you describe some examples of how this has been implemented, please? My old brain seems to recall the sword-fighting sections feeling a little haphazard and luck-based all those years ago!
Alexey Naumenko (Black Tower Basement): The idea of this remake is not to ‘be better’ or ‘fix’ the original, but to follow the spirit and fantasy and continue it. So, say the tournament now has balancing on the horse addition, but the gist is the same – aim the lance (not at the horse!) in a fast festive clash. With raiding, which you’ve mentioned, it’s no longer luck-based clicking – there’s combat with blocks, parries, and strong strikes. But it is not hardcore or something, it just meant to add to the feel of a night adventure in a mist-shrouded castle.
PSU: Likewise, Quality of Life improvements also seem to be a big part of this newest offering. Could you provide some examples of how The Legend Returns improves upon its now distinctly cobwebbed counterpart?
Alexey Naumenko (Black Tower Basement): Honestly, I think that the old UI has its charm, even though you need to go through a list of options for each action and wait for the response from each for a good second sometimes. But that’s not what modern players would expect, even the nostalgic ones. So, even having the HUD, action wheel, and read map on hover instead of a separate action, combined with controller support (which we’ve added for Retro mode as well), may be considered as QoL updates.
PSU: When it comes to the balance side of things, what changes have been made in The Legend Returns to make the whole experience feel more fair than before?
Alexey Naumenko (Black Tower Basement): Tournament. You can win it now not only with Wolfric, although he is still the best, naturally. The raid mechanics mentioned before should give more agency to the player. In terms of global balance, it is actually quite a similar experience, but more approachable.
PSU: One of the modes that is offered is the retro mode, which allows folks to play the original Amiga version. Though this is a great thing to have, were there any trials and tribulations to be had during the emulation process?
Alexey Naumenko (Black Tower Basement): That’s the thing – it’s not emulated, we had to recreate it as accurately as we could from various sources. There are a few reasons why it was stimulating to recreate it, which include localization and controller support being some of them.
PSU: Speaking of modes, the new procedurally-driven Kingdom Mode is intriguing, especially when it includes such things as special dice mechanics and unlockable abilities. Would you be able to shed some light on this?
Alexey Naumenko (Black Tower Basement): Kingdom mode is a different game set in the world of the original, and is a completely different experience. That’s a tactical deck-building game with dice-based mechanics for all the minigames and battles being the main dish as a cards + dice game. We will share additional information about Kingdom Mode very soon!
PSU: Are there plans for any other Cinemaware titles to be given similar treatment in the future?
Alexey Naumenko (Black Tower Basement): Currently, there’s no plan to do so, but if anything changes, we will gladly announce it just like we did with Defender of the Crown.
PSU: Which of the four leaders do you folks prefer to play? I’m definitely a Wilfred of Ivanhoe fella myself!
Alexey Naumenko (Black Tower Basement): He has an irresistible smile. I actually usually play as him or Cedric!
Defender of the Crown: The Legend Returns releases for PS5 sometime later in 2026.
Many thanks to ICO PR for arranging this Q&A interview and to Nordcurrent Labs for taking the time out to respond to our questions.