Prophet AR

Atmosphere:

Fantasy, but not whimsical. More serious, dark, but not horror. Medieval. Magic is not widespread, and limited to Gods (who might allow some people in some circumstances to channel it). Swords, armor, bows and arrows. Some creatures, but people are the main threat 

--- Start of world backstory ---

There were once two great Gods known amongst the people, Tyr and Ra. In the beginning, the followers of both coexisted, each keeping to their own area. But over time, the civilizations grew and expanded, drawing closer and closer together. Until one great city of Tyr could be seen in the distance from another great city of Ra.

Eventually intrigue percolated the streets and through the people's minds. Word of people posing amoung the followers of Ra, secretly trying to convert them to Tyr. Small communities of the opposite religion began to crop in the border cities. A great statue of Ra was erected to stare into Tyr's borders, and in the following days, work began on a counteracting one of Tyr. 

What was worse, was a new faction of non-believers began to appear, having revoked all belief after being exposed to two Gods who claimed the same powers. The leaders of these two great civilizations, deemed prophets, observed the converts grow from the border cities and begin to make their way closer to the heartland, where their most zealous supporters lay.

Faced with the threat of succumbing to the other, or worse, succumbing to nothingness, the leaders prepared for war with each other. Calling up vast armies from their citizens and directing all their supplies towards the war machine, they clashed with devasting consequences. Cities were razed, the great statues were pulled down, and every semblance of the others culture was destroyed at first sight. 

--- God's backstory ---

Ra and Tyr are brothers and Gods. Their father, an infinite being of infinite power, split himself into two sons whose only limit to their own infinite power was one another. He, knowing the incredible power he wielded, was concerned of the corruption that could follow, and decided to split himself into two to ensure the power was always in check. The two sons together controlled the power of everything and subsequently formed the stability of the universe.

Over time, the corruption the father foresaw grew on the side of Ra. He began to have thoughts of the unlimited power of his father, and a world without Tyr. His thinking festered until one day he went behind his brother and stabbed him in the back. Though Tyr, having anticipated his brothers actions ahead of time, exploded himself into a million finite pieces, sacrificing his form and infinite power to create and enclose around his brother, an infinite prison.

--- End of God's backstory ---

The battle of the brothers had already finished hundreds of years before the war began. The Gods, one split into pieces and the other trapped, had long since abandoned the people, lacking the power to do their once held duties. The people had been running around headless (Godless) for centuries. That is why over the course of the war, no relief could be sought anywhere. Fire burned everything, malice drifted through the air like smoke. Cruelty, devastation, and desolation grabbed hold of the land until there was nothing left. Including belief of the Gods.

Nobody could peer out into the smoldering wreckage of what was once civilization and say that either, or any, God was present. And that is why the people called it the "War of the Old World". It had effectively ended the viewpoints of the old way of doing things.

The survivors of the war lay scattered across the land in small clusters. Mostly scavenging for food, some forming simple societies. 

--- End of world backstory ---

--- Start of game narrative ---

You are a piece of Tyr. A God, but with limited powers. There is a lone person crying, having grown sick of such a pointless and cruel existence. You approach them, touch them (literally touch, it's AR), and bestow them with sight and the ability to communicate with you. You anoint them as your prophet and tell them, that as you lack power, you require human's belief in you to grow stronger. You need them to grow your influence and spread your religion. 

You tell them that there are other pieces of Tyr doing the same thing out there, but you wish to bring prosperity back to the land, and they do not. That is why you need as many followers as possible, to be able to fight, overpower, and absorb any rival pieces/Gods. 

Your mission in the game then becomes to increase your following and spread your religion.

Throughout the game, you encounter again and again pockets of "Razians (Ra-zian)". These are people are similar to you, except their God wishes to absorb all others to the point of being powerful enough to free Ra.

The game's "final" stage will be a showdown vs the heart of Razians, who have been building up strength similar to yours throughout the game.

Afterwards there will probably be an infinite mode as well

--- End of game narrative --- 

--- Start of game elements ---

There are two phases that are cycled through.

1. Questing phase 

This takes place in AR, and is a turn-based game on a grid. You collect resources on a map, convert followers, kill enemies, and interact with various objectives. (Maybe kill this dude, capture and convert this follower, defend this for X turns, escort this dude, interact with this point, gather these resources, destroy this town)

Importantly, as it's in AR, you have the ability to interact physically with your characters and the map. This will be done through your prophet character, who has the ability to channel "God abilities" on the map. Perhaps touching an enemy converts them to your side/religion, lifting your phone up quickly performs a resurrection of a character, fireballs can get launched from your position in the sky. Maybe for a second you reveal your Godly form, all enemies rotate toward you (again, in real life AR), and they get feared or some debuff for a couple turns. Here is the opportunity to make you really feel like a God.

2. City phase 

This will be a much simpler part of the game. You'll upgrade your civilization with resources and wait to go back on quests (too much AR will drain your battery and dopamine, so this gives periodic breaks). I'm thinking simple 2D, with really artistic expressions of characters. Art, atmosphere, and story need to carry here, not mechanics.

You can also buy stuff here (monetization)

The game will be designed to infinitely cycle, but also have special levels that tie into a narrative. Though the narrative can only last so long before you go into "infinite mode."

--- End of game elements ---