Finnish game developer Frozenbyte Inc has announced a long awaited sequel to its side scroller fantasy series, Trine, with Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power.

The Trine series follows a group of three heroes forced into working together by a magical artifact called the Trine. The characters are Zoya the Thief, who uses a bow and can grapple onto structures to cross obstacles; Amadeus the Wizard, who can conjure boxes and planks to build bridges, weigh down switches and scales, and climb to high places; and Pontius the Knight, who slays monsters with his sword and shield.

The series allows players to switch between the three characters to solve puzzles and overcome different challenges using unique abilities, but it can also be played on local co-op so that each play can control a different character.

The new trailer for Trine 3 shows a slight departure from the earlier games with the addition of 3-dimensional movement sections. Parts of the game still appear to be the same sidescrolling puzzler and hack-and-slash, but other areas appear to include free movement.

Frozenbyte has yet to confirm whether or not Trine 3 will include local co-op as the previous games did, but since that is one of the defining features of the series and a staple that sets it apart from similar games, it is hard to imagine that the developer would leave it out.

See the official trailer for Trine 3 here.

The “nice” game developer

Frozenbyte has developed a reputation as one of the few generous game developers after the company frequently continued making improvements and upgrades to the first two Trine games at no cost to the players.

Three years after the release of the first game, Frozenbyte released Trine: The Enchanted Edition as a free upgrade that gave the game the updated graphics of Trine 2 as well as the addition of online multiplayer and mid-level game saving.

Owners of Trine 2 on the PC also received a free upgrade to Trine 2: The Complete Story, which included a game expansion with several new levels and achievements to be earned. While the Trine games are popular on their own, the level of positive player engagement has led to a dedicated fan base and a lot of good publicity for the developer.

Image credit: Frozenbyte Inc (c)