Portraits of past villains, gauntlets of doom, large rooms and even a poisonous dragon named Nigel. These are the characteristics that make up just one of the many floating castles that players will be able to pillage, loot and slowly turn into their own home in The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, a free-to-play hack-and-slash title being developed by Ubisoft Montreal.

In Opulencia, looting is what makes the world go round. If you’re not spending your every waking moment obsessed with the size of your treasure pile, then your neighbors will think something’s very wrong with you. At the center of every castle lies its crowing jewel, the overflowing treasure room. This room, and its juicy treasure-filled innards, is the stuff that hero’s dreams are made of. Reaching this prize won’t be easy, though, as each castle’s dangers will put your hero’s full abilities to the test!

Currently in alpha, Mighty Quest offers gamers the chance to enjoy the hack-and-slash aspect that games like Diablo 3 or the upcoming Torchlight 2 revolve around, but obviously at the cost of nothing. There is a twist though, in that players are also able to build their own castles to help store valuable loot, plus the chance to create deadly traps to keep anyone from the community out.

Players will be able to control one of three classes; The Archer, The Solider or The Mage. Each class offers a unique set of abilities for players to master and upgrade through their pilfered loot, changing up the way they attack and think. Once you have your castle built your way, you can invite the community to come test it. When players die in your castle loot beings to pile up for your reaping, unless that is if they are successful and steal it all.

With the high rise in free-to-play games and their quality, it isn't any wonder why developers like Ubisoft or EA are jumping on, especially with titles that could very well see a influx not from the casual market, but maybe even from the hardcore market as well. With free-to-play titles though comes the balancing issue of ensuring that items sold for real money aren't game breaking, or don't offer too much of an advantage over non-paying customers.

You can check out the announcement trailer below (HD over here) with commentary provided by Sir Painhammer, which gives you a brief glimpse into the tongue-in-cheek nature of the game. You can also check out our game page for the latest screenshots and info.

Currently The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot is running an alpha version which you can sign up to play for free over here.