Telling a good story is not an easy thing to do in video games. While there are a lot of examples of good storytelling, there are also a lot of ones that fail. Whether it’s creating something completely new or taking from an existing formula, there’s no shortage of ideas to tell.
For 1001 Threads of Mizan, players are pulled into the traditional tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights folklore. This is something that helped spawn tales in more modern media of Sinbad, Aladdin and Ali Baba. With that said, it feels like these stories have untapped potential when it comes to telling stories in video games. There are definitely influences here and there, but nothing on the level that MBC is doing with their breakout game, 1001 Threads of Mizan.
We were able to get some hands-on time with the upcoming game at Gamescom 2026 and were intrigued by its direction.
1001 Threads of Mizan tells the story of three warriors: Malik, Yusra and Sufyan. Each character has their own backstory, although as one could imagine, it wasn’t well established in this thirty-minute demo. Being a story wrapped around the One Thousand and One Nights tales, there’s a strong emphasis on mythological creatures, with the main villain being a colossal Jinn.
The first thing we were treated with was a ride on a magic carpet. These carpets are specific to each character, although they play the same. It’s a means of getting around the vast world that is presented, soaring through the sky and taking in the beauty. It’s not entirely apparent if the world itself is open or whether this segment is limited, as it was only a means of getting to the next enemy. It felt more guided for a linear mission than if something was built for an open environment. Even so, it allowed the scenery to shine greatly, as the first action we took when starting the demo was leaping off a massive cliff only to be caught by our trusty companion.
One of the best aspects about 1001 Threads of Mizan is that it’s fully cooperative. Players will be able to play with two other friends, taking the roles of your other two companions as everyone traverses the dangerous sand dunes together. The gameplay itself feels relatively smooth, although it doesn’t feel like there’s a strong emphasis on cooperative actions. Most of the gameplay feels segmented to that specific character as they do their own thing. With that said, each character does feel drastically different from one another, so it will keep engagements fresh.
In terms of how combat differs based on which character chooses, each has their own unique play style. For example, Yusra is more of a ranged character with a bow and arrow, along with a spear for close encounters, Sufyan is faster with a sword, and Malik is the tank of the group wielding a sword and shield. Combat itself is simple, as each character will have standard and heavy attacks but a special ability that will unleash devastating damage. We took control of Yusra, the ranged fighter, and really enjoyed her mix of melee and ranged abilities. Her special was able to target multiple enemies at once, or lock onto a single target with a barrage of arrows. It was overly satisfying.
The demo went from encountering small enemies, to a much larger enemy, a large Jinn named Nazjush that was seen in the promotional material. Use of the magic carpet is used all throughout these fights, as they were meant to avoid specific attacks and gain an advantage over the enemy. The battlefield for the first boss-like soldier was not insignificant, so if another player was across the way and the boss tracked them down, the carpet was almost required to get back into the fight.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://hardcoregamer.com/gamescom-2026-preview-1001-threads-of-mizan/
