Phantom Compass posted a new Postmortem article on Gamasutra that goes into detail on the development of their recently released game Rollers of the Realm.

Phantom Compass was founded back in 2008 as a service company developing branded games for kids TV producers. Our first four years were highly productive, but we couldn't grow the company on the basis of low-budget Flash games. 

In late 2011, a local triple-A studio laid off dozens of staff. Many of them had years of industry experience, but few or no shipped titles and needed to build their portfolios before finding work. Phantom Compass founder, Tony Walsh and production head, Ericka Evans, saw an opportunity in this and brought some of the best industry vets into a meeting with our tiny indie team.

The triple-A side came to us with high production values and experience with shipping large titles. On the indie side, we had rapid development know-how, agility, and experience running distributed teams (Phantom Compass operates out of Toronto and nearby St. Catharines). Our mission was to bring both sides together in creating a small game for Xbox Live Indie Games -- a six-month project where we could learn from each other, provide our triple-A friends with a unique portfolio piece, and shift Phantom Compass into high gear. 

We took a big risk in combining two distinct teams and fittingly chose an unlikely mash-up of pinball and role-playing games. What we ended up with three years, two funding rounds, and nearly 50 extended team members later exceeded everyone's expectations. Here are the high scores and gutter balls of that adventure.

Chalgyr's Game Room posted a review of Rollers of the Realm, and he gave the game a final score of 7/10. Here is a sample of why he gave the game a good score.

Rollers of the Realm deserves a great deal of credit for doing something fresh. The implementation is a bit rough around the edges at times and the title itself could have a bit more length to it, but overall this demonstrates that pinball, puzzles and roleplaying game elements can all work with one another when given a chance. There is plenty of room for this particular hybrid genre to grow, and I am hopeful we see another attempt like it sooner than later.

We've been tipped off to Rollers of the Realm, an RPG that takes place on a series of pinball tables.  Quirky, but unique.  Thanks for the tip, Black Rune!

Rollers of the Realm™ combines the frantic physics of classic arcade pinball with the character-driven adventure of fantasy role-playing games. Bounce, spin, and battle through scenes of an epic storyline with a band of medieval misfits tasked with reclaiming the world from dark and ancient magic. Winner of a "Best in Play" Award at GDC Play 2014, IndieCade finalist in 2013.

    A new spin on pinball: includes physics-based puzzles and combat with unique nudge and flipper mechanics.
    10 hot-swappable player characters (represented by balls), each with a unique size, weight, and stats.
    Unleash devastating special abilities: flaming swords, animal companions, hailstorms, bombs!
    Upgrade stats and special abilities as your party levels up.
    30+ Campaign levels to discover and replay. Fully-voiced storyline.
    Combat focused: battle grunts, elites, bosses... and more.
    Loot drops: gold, score and mana multipliers, power-ups, and treasure.
    Arena Mode: 5 challenging boards with Steam Leaderboard support.

More information.