John Romero's lost kids MMO "Project Redwood" finally detailed
Summary
John Romero spent 4 years (2005-2009) developing an ambitious educational MMO for kids that never launched
The project aimed to blend WoW-style gameplay with Pokémon-like mechanics and hidden math education
A licensed engine's failure to handle the required content scale killed the project before release
"When you played the game, it felt like you were playing World of Warcraft. You didn't feel like you were in a school; you didn't feel like you were doing any education at all."
01
Concept - flipping WoW upside down for kids
Developed at Slipgate Ironworks and later Gazillion Entertainment between 2005 and 2009
Goal was to create a safe, fun MMO role-playing environment designed from the ground up for children
Inspired by Romero's 3,000+ hours in World of Warcraft and his recognition of games as powerful educational tools
Romero's kids learning history through Civilization and Pokédex facts faster than school facts validated the concept
Co-founder Rob Hutter of Gazillion originally suggested the educational MMO direction
02
Core mechanics - taming, combat, and layered music
Instead of aggro-based combat everywhere, the world was safe to explore with animals roaming freely
Animal taming replaced traditional combat - players used music to build trust instead of weapons to reduce hit points
Up to 3 players could layer instrument tracks together to complete a taming sequence
Successfully tamed animals could be taken home and rewarded with loot drops
Towns under siege by robots offered optional traditional combat using weapons, armour, and shields for XP
03
Stealth education - math hidden inside the world
Math concepts were deliberately hidden inside environmental puzzles and a special in-game guild
Joining the guild unlocked quests tied to 6th-grade level math exposure
Completing those quests rewarded players with the best-looking gear in the entire game
The social hook was designed so kids would ask each other how to get the gear, organically discovering the math content
"The idea behind that was that kids would talk to each other like, 'How did you get that?' and they'd find out, 'Oh, I need to join this guild and do these quests.'"
04
Why it failed - engine limitations proved fatal
Four years in, the licensed engine could not support content at the scale it had been advertised as capable of handling
A specialised tech director was brought in to assess options, but estimates pointed to at least 1 year just to fix client software and tools
Migrating to a different engine was assessed as taking even longer, creating unacceptable risk for investors
Investors decided to wind down the project rather than absorb the extended timeline and cost
A demo video was shared on Vimeo in 2011 but was later taken down, leaving only a few character animations on YouTube as public record
05
Legacy and what remains
Romero described the project in his 2023 memoir "Doom Guy: A Life In First Person" as "the complete opposite of DOOM"
Concept art and potentially additional video footage have since been surfaced, offering a rare look at the project's visual direction
The project remains one of the most ambitious and unusual ventures from a genre-defining industry figure
No indication of revival plans, but the design philosophy around stealth educational game mechanics remains relevant for today's edtech and kids game market
Explore more: partnerships and co-development
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COMPILED BY GAMES ATLAS EDITORIAL
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