Seven Lights is gearing up to launch its first online game, The Continuum, by the end of the year and has already self-published three comic books since last summer that provide back story, clues to the game, and hints to future games in development. A fourth issue will be published when the game goes live, and at that time Seven Lights will distribute existing and future comics through all channels.

According to creator and Seven Lights president Tim Harris, 'Comic books speak to the fact that we want to create a really involving narrative around the game so that each part that we're doing can really live by itself. If you're reading the comic, you can have a meaningful experience, if you're playing the game, you can have a rewarding experience, but truly the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.'

The online game itself has a tabletop aesthetic, with a tile-based system of graphics to allow new mapping, and Seven Lights plans to eventually enable players to use the map making tools themselves. The game plays a bit like a miniatures game with RPG elements.  'Basically everything we're in love with from the hobby standpoint, we've baked together into one product,' said Harris.

The Website currently houses a forum which launched last summer and gets about 35,000 visitors a month. The Site will house a record of characters, where they have appeared in the comics and what happened to them. Players will have the ability to create and develop hundreds of characters and maintain character pages similar to a MySpace page for them, and will have opportunities to trade characters or seek out specific opponents. 

The Continuum online game is currently in closed beta testing but will expand testing as it gets closer to going live.