ALL FORMATS

LIFTING THE LID ON VIDEO GAMES

DISCO
ELYSIUM
TEARDOWN
The best destruction
Why it’s the
future of RPGs
sandbox yet?
Issue 28 £3
wfmag.cc

BATTLE
ROYALE
The genre’s rise and
rapid evolution

FROZEN Inside Röki’s fairy tale

adventure of love and loss
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 Pixel art as a movement
for the 21st century

P
ixel art emerged from the hardware One of the three basic values behind pixel art is
limitations of early computers. intention: there’s a strong, conscious decision behind
Machines back then were simply too the placement of every single pixel. The squares in
primitive to display the colours and pixel art need to be aligned in perfect harmony, where
resolution needed to emulate high-detail images, so every single one of them has its distinct place, goal, and
technicians had to come up with a new way to display meaning, because even a single pixel can completely
THOMAS
visuals on the technology available. Their solution FEICHTMEIR change the overall interpretation of an image. There’s
was to build up images from small square elements – Thomas Feichtmeir no place for chaos or randomness in pixel art.
better known as the pixel. is an independent Pixel art is about perceiving the real world and
Nowadays, modern computers offer nearly unlimited artist, art director, interpreting it in an engaging, simplified way. Effective
freedom in the creation and display of images. While and art consultant simplification – figuring out how to represent a human
specialising in
screens are still made up of pixels, their pixels are now pixel art. He joined face in an eight-by-eight grid of pixels, say – will strongly
so sharp and so tiny, they can hardly be seen by the the video games enhance the way the art is interpreted by the viewer.
naked eye. industry in 2010 It’s up to pixel artists to break up visual information
There are plenty of digital artists who want to create and has worked into tiny bits, which later on have to be reinterpreted
on such games as
highly realistic images, and so the onward march Blasphemous, The by the viewer, who will inevitably fill in the blanks with
of technology, and the ever-increasing resolution Mummy Demastered, their own personal narration, reflection, and details.
and calculation power of computers, has massively and Tower 57. This unique communication between artist and viewer
helped their craft. Disciplines like photography, creates a strong personal bond with the art. In pixel art,
photogrammetry, motion capture, 3D-scanning, the interplay between artist and viewer is key.
virtual reality, and augmented reality – which are often Then there’s resourcefulness: pixel art tries to
oriented around realism – definitely benefit from it, make the most out of very little. The restrictions pixel
because restrictions are unwanted side effects they artists choose for themselves are the most important
previously needed to work around. But some artists decisions in their artwork. What resolution do they
ask themselves whether the driving force behind their choose? Do they go for a vibrant, 32-bit era colour
creativity lies in the limitations themselves. palette, or restrict themselves to the monochrome

#28
Those artists are pixel artists. Pixel artists want to hues of the Game Boy? In great pixel art, everything is
embrace the strictly digital nature of their art. They considered with care. Pixel art sits somewhere between
want to work within restrictions. Most importantly, they minimalism and figurative representation – you could
want to consciously define their own restrictions and describe it as the most minimalistic figurative art form.
play around with them. As a medium, pixel art was born out of necessity.
It’s worth pointing out that pixel art isn’t about Today, it’s not merely driven by a fondness for ageing
nostalgia for old games. Nostalgia is a feeling of games; pixel art is an independent art movement
pleasure and sometimes slight sadness as you think based on unique values, goals, and a specific mindset
about things that happened in the past. But pixel art which separates it from all other digital art. Thousands
can exist outside of this, because it’s based on its own of artists are dedicating themselves to this modern
values, which define it and help differentiate it from all and growing movement. Together, they’re pushing the
other forms of digital art. boundaries of the form – one pixel at a time.

wfmag.cc \ 03
 Contents

Contents

6
Attract mode Interface

06. Röki 18. Battle royales

Walking in Polygon Treehouse’s Charting the genre’s rise and
winter wonderland rapid evolution

10. Teardown 24. Thystle

A physics-based heist-’em-up breaks Pixel artist William Beaujon introduces
down walls his debut fantasy RTS

12.  Deathtrap Dungeon 44. Redwall

An adventure gamebook gets a new, The fantasy series’ surprising impact
FMV adaptation on game design

16.  Incoming 50. The PlayStation at 25

50 Japanese gangsters, typing,
and economy class travel
Sony’s seminal console reaches
its quarter century

04 / wfmag.cc
 Contents

WELCOME
We’re on a bit of a Sega
nostalgia trip at Wireframe

18 44 Towers this issue. Ian’s

managed to get hold of a 32X
– that ill-fated add-on for the
Sega Mega Drive; meanwhile,
by complete coincidence, I just
acquired a scruffy yet functional
Mega-CD 2 – another ill-fated
add-on for the Sega Mega Drive.

Maybe we were both

subconsciously influenced by
the seismic events that rocked
Japan’s games industry in
autumn 1994, when Sega made
the decision to release the 32X
and its next-gen console, the
Saturn, within weeks of Sony’s
PlayStation. You can probably
figure out what happened
next – the 32X tanked, and the
PlayStation eclipsed the Saturn
to such a degree that Sega never
really recovered its standing.

Still, we can’t help but hold a

lingering bit of admiration for

58
Sega’s hardware curios from the
mid-nineties. The PlayStation
changed gaming (and Ian tips
his hat to its brilliance on page
50), but the 32X – an odd,
mushroom-shaped lump that
Toolbox Rated boosted the Mega Drive’s ageing
hardware – perfectly epitomises
a period when the industry was
in an unpredictable state of
28. CityCraft 56. Disco Elysium flux. Besides, the 32X got the
system-exclusive game, Kolibri
Ways to make your virtual city A smart, impossibly complex RPG – a shooter where you control
easier to explore for the ages a murderous hummingbird that
systematically exterminates all
32. Licensed games 58. Deliver Us The Moon rival wildlife. I think we know
who the true winner is here.
How to make great games from Giant steps are what you take in
existing IP KeokeN’s sci-fi thriller
Ryan Lambie
Editor
38. Art direction 60. The Outer Worlds
Why it’s a crucial step in your The quintessential Obsidian RPG?
game’s development Quite possibly

40.  Source Code 63. Children Of Morta

Create your own turn-based A pixel art roguelike that doesn’t
combat system outstay its welcome

wfmag.cc \ 05
 Attract Mode
Interview

WHERE
THE WILD
THINGS ARE
Polygon Treehouse talk to us about Röki, Scandinavian
monsters, and making a big game with a small team

The game’s use of contrasts



gives its storybook world a real

sense of scale and drama.

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 Attract Mode
Interview

Rewind to a couple of years back, we

had several ideas on the table for our
debut indie title, but they all faded into
the background when we rediscovered
Scandinavian folklore as adults. To be
clear, we’re not talking about the Norse
gods, but rather the mischievous, tragic,
odd, and sometimes monstrous creatures
[in Scandinavian folklore]. Sure, a lot of
them are pretty scary on paper, but we
found there was an edge of sadness and
humanity to their origin stories that really
captivated us. So much so that a cast of
characters started to emerge, and we
Polygon Treehouse hopes to make more never looked back. It’s telling that we didn’t


adventure games once Röki ’s complete.

“We’re keen to keep pushing the
name the game after its protagonist, but
accessibility of our games,” they tell us. one of the monsters!
Another inspiration was the realisation

F
that a lot of folklore tends to revolve
rom its earliest beginnings, Röki hugely detailed models and textures. “We’re around children – either them getting
has been an exercise in making great believers in working with creative into trouble or potentially saving the day.
a little go a long way. Cambridge- restrictions,” says art director and studio As such, we were particularly drawn to
based indie developer Polygon co-founder, Alex Kanaris-Sotiriou. “We knew the idea of meeting monsters through
Treehouse doesn’t have a vast that to make Röki feel like a big adventure – the untainted and unprejudiced eyes
team of designers and asset builders to with a team a fraction of the size – we were of a child. We felt this would help break
fall back on, but they do have bags of going to have to be more innovative in our some stereotypes and avoid the ‘stab bad
talent and years of industry experience approach to creating our fairy-tale world monster with sword’ reaction an adult
(for more about their history at the now- and characters.” might be conditioned to have.
shuttered Guerrilla Cambridge, check out About a young girl who journeys into
our interview with them in issue 16). And an increasingly forbidding world in search
so, with a comparatively tiny team, they’ve
created a dark yet inviting fantasy world
of her lost brother, Röki’s steeped in
Scandinavian folklore, while its adventure
“It’s telling we
that, thanks to some clever usage of 3D
and a frankly stunning art style, feels huge
game trappings are inspired by the
developers’ enduring affection for such didn’t name the
game after its
and lived-in. Giant monsters slumber on genre staples as Monkey Island and Day of
snow-covered mountain tops; mysterious the Tentacle. With the game on the cusp of
creatures lurk deep in the woods – they’re release, we caught up with Kanaris-Sotiriou
all images that come to life thanks to a
beautifully minimalistic art style rather than
to find out more about Röki’s making
and influences.
protagonist”
How did you settle on Scandinavian Where a game’s set is important, but
folklore as the theme for your first game? when it’s set is also key, so did you talk a
Do you have a personal connection to lot about the period Röki takes place in?
that mythology?  We did, and we decided to leave the
Yes and no. We both watched the Moomins chronology relatively ambiguous. The 
cartoon as youngsters (our heroine Tove game’s about the collision of modern-day
and her brother Lars are named after Tove life and the fantastical world lurking behind
Jansson and her brother respectively). the curtain. This contrast between the two
There was something about the evocative worlds was really important. Fairy tales
landscapes and the odd, bewitching are set in ‘olden times’, but the idea of
characters that gave the stories a great plunging a kid from the here-and-now into
sense of place, and felt menacing yet a hidden world of folklore was much more
welcoming at the same time. exciting and relatable.

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 Attract Mode
Interview

As well as the core animation, which

we try and push the quality on in its own
Although inspired by point-and-click


adventures, Tove’s controlled directly right, we also heavily use dynamic physics
with a pad. “All the interactions are
context based, which streamlines the
elements to soften the transitions and
gameplay,” Kanaris-Sotirou says. give a sense of reactive realism to our
stylised character’s motion. We also heavily
leverage ‘squish’ and joint scaling to give
That’s also why we set the game in the creating our world – traditional texturing our characters an extra sense of weight
wilderness – it helps blur the line between and lighting – meaning we can make what and pliable charm.
our two worlds, and lets us focus on the feels like a big adventure with a small team.
mysteries and characters of where As an added bonus, the art style we derived You already had the character designs
they overlap. from this approach feels different and fresh, and style of the game locked down when
and has already resonated with players and it was unveiled in 2017. Has the look of
The game has the look of a 2D picture become a big draw for the project. the game changed much since, or have
book, but also a pleasing sense of depth. Whilst Röki is inspired by the classic you largely concentrated on developing
Have you modelled a lot of the assets in point-and-click adventure games we loved other elements?
3D, or is the sense of depth an illusion? growing up (Monkey Island, Day of the Establishing Röki’s non-photo-real art
So the game is entirely in 3D but is Tentacle, etc) the game isn’t point-and-click. style was the foundation for the game.
rendered in a clean graphical style. One of our goals was to update the genre We essentially crossed that off our ‘to do’
We wanted to play to our strengths; we’ve for modern audiences. To that end, you list when the game was initially revealed.
worked in 3D art and animation for our explore and interact with the wilderness We committed to it publicly, so there was
whole careers so it was a given we’d start in 3D, [directly controlling] Tove with the no going back and tinkering with it! We’ve
there. What we established was a fully 3D gamepad – this instantly gives us a real gone and layered some more sophistication
art style that has no textures or traditional feeling of freedom and dynamism when in since, but it essentially remains
lighting but rather focuses on shape/ exploring the ancient forest. unchanged. We felt pretty comfortable that
silhouette, pure colour choice, and motion we’d nailed both a unique look, and one
in order to depict our world. I read Tom [Jones]’s blog post, where that solved a big production issue.
From a production-hat point of view, he listed Flashback as his favourite Having this ‘banked’ was nice as it
this strips out two massive time sinks for childhood game. Is there a hint of that allowed us to focus on other areas of the
game’s smooth animation in Tove’s game, like design, narrative, and audio,
movement, do you think? knowing that this big-ticket item was
We’ll take that comparison gladly, thank sorted, and was being received very well.
you very much! I think the shading style
goes some way towards that comparison, You’ve written in the past about the
but we have really tried to push the fidelity importance of using reference materials.
of motion in our game as far as we can, How long did you spend in Scandinavia
again taking some non-traditional routes. to get those materials?
We spent some time in Norway around
voice recording sessions (we’re working
with Scandinavian actors) and took the
opportunity to explore and snap as
much reference material as we could.
The museum of cultural history outside
Oslo was an inspiring place, packed with
accurate recreations of cabins, and has

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 Attract Mode
Interview

an amazing stave church which directly

inspired one of the locations in the game.

Is it a challenge to come up with

puzzles that require thought, but
aren’t too obtuse? Sound’s also an important part of


Röki ’s world. Composer Aether

It’s inspired by our love for those and sound designer Ali Tocher
[adventure] games we played growing up, are the minds behind it all.
but we wanted to try and modernise the
genre for Röki. One of our key goals was to
make a ‘frustration-free’ adventure game guidance if they need it, along with offering as not to influence player interpretation
that could be played by fans of the genre, extra lore for the attentive. too much! So, as well as having this fairy-
but also by people who might have been tale adventure full of excitement and
put off before and new audiences not so Although the game’s story-led, is the world wonder, we wanted the game to have
au fait with the traditional – sometimes fairly open for the player to explore? a vivid emotional core. This stems from
oblique – genre conventions. The game’s split into three acts. The first Tove and her family, who are in a bit of
introduces our protagonists in a cosy, fairly a dysfunctional status quo spot as the
self-contained environment. The second game opens. The inciting incident is Tove’s

“We’re not going act opens up a lot more, allowing you to

explore a large area from a central hub
journey into the wilderness to rescue her
brother. She’ll have to confront her past, as

to give players deep in the heart of the ancient fairy-tale

forest. We’re keeping the location of the
well as monsters and puzzles, in order to
save him. So as we travel deeper into the
third act under our hats for now, but safe wilds, we also get a deeper understanding
all the answers to say it will offer another change in place
and pace in a climactic location we’re
of what has happened to her and her
family, and how she feels about it all.

on a plate” pretty darn excited about.

We’ve tried to link the exploration within
We’re quietly confident this blend offers
a coherent emotional arc and plenty
the game with the narrative. One of the of subtext – but we’re not going to give
The puzzles were another key part of things that got picked up on at E3 was players all the answers on a plate.
this philosophy. Designing puzzles is really that we’ve peppered story notes around
tricky; too easy and they’re not satisfying to the world that you glean by exploring and What’s left to do on Röki before release?
solve, too hard and they’re frustrating. One examining the elements of the forest. We’re gonna throw some more monsters
of our golden rules is to make sure they Gradually, the player will build up a picture at it! In all seriousness, one of the things
followed real-world rules, so the player isn’t of the events that have unfolded. We we’ve been layering in is more reactive
having to make wild leaps of logic to solve like this archaeological and exploratory elements in the game world that really
them. The other thing that we do is to have approach to narrative, especially when bring the deep forest to life. As Tove runs
a guide or oracle-style character that the compared to lengthy exposition-heavy past toadstools they’ll shrink back into
player can visit on their adventure if they conversations with NPCs. Driving the the ground, butterflies take flight as she
get stuck, and who will offer subtle hints so narrative in this way also adds to the sense approaches, and she can make snow trails
as to not break immersion. of discovery and interaction for the player. in the deeper areas of snow-drift. It’s these
We’ve also given Tove a journal which little reactionary touches that make the
she updates as she discovers new areas Do you envision Röki as a bleak tale, or game world come alive, and we’re keen to
and challenges. As the game opens up, uplifting? Or maybe a bit of both? see how far we can push it.
it acts as a handy guide to keep track of Great question. One we will only answer
what happened where, and to return to for in part to maintain some mystery and so Röki is out in 2020 for PC and Switch.

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 Attract Mode
Early Access

Smash and grab

Dennis Gustafsson tells us about the voxel tech behind his
sandbox action game, Teardown

T
he satisfying splinter of glass. There’s a point to all this property damage,
Info

GENRE
Action/sandbox The pleasing way walls break apart though: once you start stealing the items you
FORMAT
a layer at a time, with plaster falling need to complete each level, a timer will kick
PC off to reveal bricks, which in turn in, and you’ll have only a few seconds to grab
DEVELOPER crumble into tiny cubes with each everything and escape before a security team
Tuxedo Labs strike of your sledgehammer. This doesn’t arrives. It’s vital, then, that you make the path
PUBLISHER happen every day, but we watched the trailer for between each item you want to steal as straight
Tuxedo Labs Teardown and immediately thought, ‘We want to as possible, which means the game involves
RELEASE play this. Right now.’ several minutes of knocking down walls, creating
2020 (Early Access) The work of Swedish developer Dennis makeshift walkways and shortcuts by moving
Gustafsson, Teardown presents a potentially around furniture, planks of wood, or even
intoxicating mix of wanton destruction and vehicles, before you spend the second phase
problem-solving. Each level presents a voxel- rushing around, stealing items against the clock.
based sandbox that involves planning and then In a gameplay video Gustafsson uploaded in
carrying out a series of heists against the clock. early October, the level’s objective is to steal
Part of Teardown’s appeal is Just about every element in Teardown’s contained a series of keycards from what looks like an


the open-ended nature of

missions. “Anything is allowed spaces can be damaged or smashed up in some industrial estate; later stages will, however,
as long as you get the job
done,” Gustafsson says.
way; you can fire a gun at a power line and watch feature other objectives and items to steal.
the whole thing collapse, knock a hole in a wall “Most levels will feature the same two phases of
with a stick of dynamite, or throw a desk through planning and running,” Gustafsson tells us, “but
a window and admire the messy results. there will be a lot of variation in the actual goal.
One mission might, for instance, be to destroy
objects instead of stealing them. This may sound
similar, but plays very differently because if you
do your planning right, you don’t have to be
physically close to a target in order to destroy it.”
All of this might make Teardown sound like
a 3D puzzle game – a gleefully anarchic riff on
Portal, perhaps – but Gustafsson classifies it
rather differently. “I think a puzzle game should
have one or several designed solutions, which
Teardown won’t have,” he tells us. “We specifically
try to design levels with no particular solution in
mind and leave all of that to player creativity.
I see it more as an action platformer with

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 Attract Mode
Early Access

 eardown will need a fairly decent PC to run;

T


Gustafsson says it plays fine on a machine with a

GTX 1070 graphics card and a quad-core processor.

build-your-own-level elements in the

sandbox phase.” 
Gustafsson has a long history in the game
physics field – Meqon, a company he co-founded
in 2001, specialised in developing simulation
middleware – and the idea for Teardown began
to evolve from some physics-based ideas he was
tinkering with about 18 months ago. Although
Gustafsson knew he wanted to create a sandbox
game that “used destruction for gameplay,” he
also knew he didn’t want to make a first-person As well as destruction,


Teardown’s also about
shooter. “A lot of people see a shooter as the efficiency: once a level’s
perfect application for this technology, but I to blast the wheel off a truck, for example, but finished, you can view a map
to see how you can complete
personally have no interest in shooters, and its handling will remain the same if you try to it more quickly next time.
I also don’t think the destruction and physics drive it. Similarly, the damage modelling on
would really affect gameplay that much,” buildings has been simplified so that a roof
Gustafsson says. won’t collapse until everything underneath it
To create Teardown’s smash-happy world, has been destroyed. “This can look a bit weird
Gustafsson has built his own physics and at times,” says Gustaffson, “[but] it can also
graphics engines, with ray-traced lighting that, be beneficial to the player that the behaviour
although fairly processor- is predictable, since
hungry, won’t require “Each object needs destruction is used for
an expensive new RTX gameplay. If the roof
an inside, with its
graphics card to run. This started falling in when THE FUTURE:
makes the game’s hazily- own materials” you destroyed some
VOXEL-
lit, destructible world random support beam
look good enough to eat – but it’s also given by mistake, that would likely be very confusing
SHAPED?
“I think we’ll see more voxel
Gustafsson more than a few technical hurdles to and hard to work with.”
games in the next few years,
clear in order to get the game to this stage. “One Visit Gustafsson’s Twitter feed, and you’ll but I don’t think they will
major challenge is that there aren’t a lot of voxel uncover a joyous carnival of destruction: a video replace polygons any time
editing tools out there, so the content creation shows a construction vehicle tearing the back soon,” Gustafsson says,
pipeline is not as smooth as I would like,” he says. off a car, turning it into a makeshift pickup truck. when we ask him what he
thinks about the future of
“Everything has to be modelled on the inside, Another clip shows how you can knock down
voxels. “Polygons are a pretty
which can be quite challenging. In a polygon a telegraph pole, attach it to a lorry, then drive good representation for 3D
game, you just deal with the surface, but since off, stretching the electricity cables like elastic. objects unless you need to
everything is procedurally destructible here, each It looks ready to play already, though Gustafsson model the inside, so I don’t
see them completely going
object needs an inside, with its own materials.” says there’s more to do before the game’s debut
away. Voxel destruction is
There are limits to Teardown’s voxel on Steam Early Access next year. “The basic a lot of fun, but completely
destruction, too – partly to prevent the game engine and toolset is there, but needs a lot of destructible worlds are
from becoming unplayably broken. You’ll be able polish and optimisation. I’m working on vehicles probably a bad fit for most
right now,” he says. “They’ll have a central role in games since they affect
level design and gameplay
the game: regular cars, construction machines,
in unpredictable ways. It can
and boats. Most of all, there’s a lot of content to quickly become a nightmare
be created. I hired several level designers to help scenario for both game
me with that so things are moving a little faster design, level design, and
testing. I think voxels will be
than before, but we really just got started, so
used mostly for niche games
there’s a lot of work to be done.” and maybe for sampling
real-world objects. There are
a few companies doing cool
Teardown’s ray-traced lighting

stuff with really small voxels
gives the voxel world a pleasingly
realistic look, and won’t require – Atomontage and Mutate
an RTX graphics card to run. primarily – and it will be
interesting to see what they
will do with the technology.”

wfmag.cc \ 11
 Attract Mode
Early Access

 afe to say it’s not exactly

S


a binary yes-no option.

Deathtrap Dungeon
And this time with no Kelly Brook in sight

L
ast seen in the dark, forgotten extra bit of oomph to proceedings – a removal of
Info

GENRE
Choose-your- past of the mid-nineties, Deathtrap cheese, if you will – that you might not otherwise
own-adventure
Dungeon – the most popular of the see. “Eddie’s contribution has been astounding,”
FORMAT Fighting Fantasy series of choose- says Matt Spall, co-founder of Branching
PC / Mac / mobile
your-own-adventure books – is Narrative. “We thought long and hard about who
DEVELOPER
returning to video gaming. This time, rather should deliver the script, as well as the setting it
Branching Narrative
than a wonky 3D hack-and-slash title with Kelly would be delivered in, and ultimately settled on
PUBLISHER
Branching Narrative
Brook on hand to sell it, new studio Branching a ‘story room’ feel, a place that you’d feel safe
Narrative has opted for an FMV approach; a sort and warm, but at the same time, could be taken
RELEASE
Soon of Jackanory, but with more maleficent beasts. somewhere into your imagination, very much the
Those hoping for a recreation of Knightmare same way the games do.”
may be left wanting, as Deathtrap Dungeon brings Marsan came up as a potential ‘host’ of the
one Eddie Marsan in as its narrator and guide for game, thanks to his packed CV and solid acting
the player. The award-winning actor has plenty of chops: “Once we knew Eddie was intrigued I sent
 ctor Eddie Marsan,
A


seen here (probably) movie and TV credits to his name, and brings that him a copy of the original book, along with some
not cheating at
Deathtrap Dungeon.
dice, for him to get a feel for it,” Spall continues.
“He ended up playing the game with some of his
kids, acting as narrator and seeing the intrigue,
thought processes, and differences of opinion
from them – I think it had a positive effect on his
decision to take part.”
But why return to Deathtrap Dungeon in the
first place? It has a reputation, sure, but it’s not
the most obvious choice for a license to use.
“[Its popularity as a book] represents a kind
of ‘perfect storm’ for us as a dev studio,” Spall
explains. “We did some experiments late in 2018
around uses of interactive video for gameplay,
and an opportunity that clearly jumped out to
us was around the huge existing library of great
interactive literature, not only in traditionally
released paper form, but also online from
people writing using tools like Twine.”

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Early Access

I t’s simple, but there’s no denying



the allure of a good choose-your-

own-adventure (video) gamebook.

As well as the name value of the brand, an actual redesign of decades-old mechanics.
there’s also the fact that something as (relatively) “Ian has been helping us build a revised,
simple as Deathtrap Dungeon – especially when simplified battle mechanic for the game,”
approached as a bunch of choices presented Spall says. “The player will now be able to choose
by a human face – can be highly accessible for between the multiple round battles from the
players of all backgrounds. “Approachability is a original game, and a revised system that can
huge factor for us, and it’s something that we’ve still inflict lasting damage, but takes a lot less
been working around,” Spall says. “We’re very time out of the continuing adventure. Ian also
aware that there’s a large fan base around role- came along to the video shoot, and we have
playing games, and the some footage we’re
resurgence of Dungeons considering dropping in
“Once we knew Eddie was LOOKING
& Dragons and tabletop as an Easter egg in the
gaming in general has intrigued, I sent him a copy game… or not!” AHEAD
certainly guided a number of the original book” There’s always going Serious question, though –
of our decisions. At EGX, to be cynicism around can you look ahead through
the pages and, in essence,
where the game was shown to the public for an FMV title, of course, and it’s not wholly
cheat? Not that any of us did
the first time, we were astounded at the broad unwarranted. Spall says he and the team are that with the choose-your-
appeal the game has got, attracting a diverse aware of this, though, and have hopes Deathtrap own-adventure books, of
group of players.” Its casual approach means it’s Dungeon’s increased complexity over other FMV course… “Looking ahead in
easy for people to get into, and Spall says he’s titles will work well for it. “The primary difference the game is something we
considered,” Spall admits.
quietly hopeful the game will appeal to families is in the additional layer of role-playing
“But in reality it only worked
or other mixed-ability groups. mechanics,” he says. “The mechanics in Ian’s part of the time as there are
It’s also nice to hear that series creator Ian original book apply additional jeopardy to the so many potential paths
Livingstone has taken a hands-on approach to story flow, affecting the player’s propensity to through the game it ultimately
wasn’t a big advantage. What
the project, providing not just consultation but take risks based on how high, or depleted, their
we are allowing the player to
skill, stamina, luck, and provisions are.” do is to keep a virtual finger in
While this might be the first game from the pages where they’ve been,
Well it’s always


going to be fight Branching Narrative, Spall is matter-of-fact building, in essence, what Ian
your way out, isn’t about where the studio is going next: “We’ve Livingstone called ‘the five-
it? No? Just me? Oh. fingered bookmark’. We’ve
got two more projects currently in the pipeline,”
built a map that reveals itself
he explains. “One built on another well-known to the player as they progress
gamebook, very much in the vein of Deathtrap through the dungeon, then
Dungeon, and another that we’re working on with at any point, the player can
choose to go to any part of
a comedy writer that’ll be a much more frenetic
the map they’ve already been
affair.” Now imagine if we finished this piece with to, and pick up with the stats
a wonderful pun about the studio choosing its own an inventory they had last
adventure – wouldn’t that be great? time they were there.”

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 Attract Mode
News

02

01

01. Threally? 03
02. Howling
Half-Life 3… not confirmed. Valve has
instead confirmed Half-Life: Alyx, a brand A new dev company, WolfEye Studios,
03. G
 ears of
new, full entry to the Half-Life series, has been set up by Arkane Studios
this one a prequel to the second game founder Raphaël Colantonio and Inclusivity
starring everyone’s favourite sidekick, executive producer Julien Roby, with the
Dog. Wait, no, the other one. And the two previously having worked together at The Coalition’s Rod Fergusson used his
big kicker here? It’s VR-only, made for Arkane for just over a decade. The new keynote at the Montreal International
Valve’s own Index hardware but with studio will operate remotely, without Game Summit to speak in part about the
compatibility for the Oculuses and Vives a central office, and will be focused studio’s attempts toward inclusivity in its
of the world built in too. on indie titles rather than increasingly development mantra, citing the motto:
The project started back in 2016, and daunting triple-A fare. “Unless you consciously include, you will
sees Valve using the talents of Half-Life “The world has changed since 1999 unconsciously exclude.”
veterans along with a few new faces – when I started Arkane Studios, so while “If you just do what you’re doing
including some from Campo Santo, which it is way easier to be taken seriously by without thinking about how to include
Valve picked up back in 2018. “In all investors and publishers after our run others, your normal biases are going
honesty, back in 2016 when we started at Arkane, there are new challenges to kick in, and you’re going to forget
this,” explained Valve’s Robin Walker, that keep it interesting,” Colantonio told people just because they’re not part
“Half-Life 3 was a terrifyingly daunting Gamasutra. “The market has changed, of your social circle, not part of your
prospect, and, I think, to some extent, VR our tastes and desires too. I’m not the demographic,” Fergusson said. “You’re
was a way we could fool ourselves into same person that I was back then, but not thinking about them. It’s just a
believing we had a way to do this.” there is one thing that hasn’t changed: reminder that if you want to include and
The game releases in March, if all I want to create a game that is very dear grow your audience, you have to be very
things go well. to me and my friends at WolfEye.” explicit about how you do that.”

Resident Evil 3 remake Bizdev VP Greg Rice has

rumoured for 2020 release left Double Fine

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 Attract Mode
News

06

All these stories

and more
(we have more space
on the internet)
can be found over on
wfmag.cc
05

04

04. N
 ODE (RE) 06. Quick sell
ACTIVATED 05. ( Empty)
Epic has announced a solid get for its
Stadiums stable, picking up Swedish asset library
Ever-growing UK developer/publisher Quixel for an undisclosed fee. The new
Rebellion announced it has acquired Google’s launch of Stadia has gone off acquisition brings with it a huge library
Amiga-era legend, The Bitmap Brothers, without a single hitch, and everything of Megascans: items, objects, and things
with the latter’s entire portfolio now is perfect! Wait, no, that’ll teach us to rendered in high resolution for use in all
owned by the Oxford-based former. write these stories before things have manner of creative pursuits – including,
This marks the latest in many moves happened. No, Stadia’s launch has you guessed it, games. The library of
by Rebellion to grow and pivot over been… a mixed bag. For those it worked Megascans will be added to the Unreal
recent months and years, with the studio for, it’s been a potential sign of things Engine library, and will be free to use.
moving into movie and TV production, to come (as with all previous game- A post on the UE blog by Epic chief Tim
as well as more recently announcing the streaming services). For those it hasn’t Sweeney read: “Building photorealistic
launch of a board-game wing. worked for? Not so much. Some day- 3D content is an expensive endeavour in
Rebellion CEO and co-founder Jason one purchasers couldn’t get Stadia game development and film production.
Kingsley said: “We’re delighted with working over a week after its launch, By coming together with Quixel to
the addition of The Bitmap Brothers which is unfortunate. make Megascans free for all use in
to the Rebellion portfolio. The Bitmap We hadn’t even hit 19 November Unreal Engine, this level of artistry is
Brothers are renowned for making great before learning about all the promised now available to everyone from triple-A
games and for bringing gaming into the features Stadia wouldn’t actually launch studios to indies.”
mainstream with inimitable style. with – 4K HDR games on anything other Quixel co-founder Teddy Bergsman
“We’ve known Mike Montgomery for than Chromecast Ultra, the State Share added: “As part of Epic Games, we’re now
many years, and we’re honoured by the feature, even achievements aren’t in able to accelerate this vision as we grow
faith and trust that he has shown in us there day one. And for a lot of things, it’s the Megascans library, speed up the
by passing on the torch. We’ll strive to a rather vague timeline for when we’ll development of Bridge and Mixer, and
be vigilant custodians of one of gaming’s actually be getting them. The future isn’t improve integrations with all major 3D
great names.” now, just yet. software and renderers.”

Alien: Isolation out now Ninja releases a comic book; has

on Switch, wahey! Jesus-y overtones (seriously)

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Early Access

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

It’s a wonderful time of year for Yakuza fans,
with Sega re-releasing versions of the third
to fifth games on PS4 on a rolling basis and a
full-on proper sequel hitting soon. In January,
Yakuza 7, as we’re informally calling it, will land Wetware
in Japan – with a western release following later
in 2020. The new game sees a big shift for the It looks twee with its stop motion-like animation,
series, with mainstay protagonist Kazuma Kiryu but Wetware hides a darker interior. You are
stepping aside, and newbie Ichiban Kasuga tasked with hacking into a drone which has
taking centre stage. come into your possession, but the techniques
There’s also a big shift in battle style, moving you use are considered unethical by some –
away from the Virtua Fighter-lite of previous even harmful. Some might even consider what
titles and instead presenting an RPG-like turn- you’re doing torture of an AI. See? Dark. And
based battle system. Additionally, character definitely intriguing.
relationships now utilise a system very similar
to those in the recent Persona games, with the
player able to level up their friendships between
characters, thus unlocking new jobs and abilities.
Basically, it’s all going a bit Yakuza: JRPG Edition,
and honestly, after 15 years of a pretty by-the-
numbers action-RPG-lite, changes as broad
as this are as welcome as they are surprising.
Here’s hoping the experiment pays off.

Nanotale –
Typing Chronicles
Typing Chronicles is out on now on Early Access,
and the noises around it are positive ones. A
mix of adventure RPG and… well, typing, it brings
exploration and study – you play as an archivist
– together with puzzle-solving and use of the
keyboard for everything. That includes typing out
words to use your magic, which is always great.

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 Attract Mode
Early Access

Unto The End

There’s a real Another World/Prince of Persia vibe to this
one, being made by a husband and wife team. Unto The
End champions its skill-based 2D combat, which takes
in both melee and ranged weaponry, and sounds like
it might be, as they say, ‘challenging’. And to top all that
alluring loveliness off, it also looks bloody fantastic.

Doom 64
With retro port maestros Nightdive Studios
at the helm, we’ve little doubt Doom 64’s
multiformat re-release will be a solid one. What’s
more enticing is that this is probably the least-
played of the core Doom series, with it only ever
appearing on the N64 22 years ago. This means
that for a lot of us, it’s the first real chance to
play the Doom that took the established formula
and played about with it – if only a bit.

Eldest Souls
There’s a willingness to overlook the multiple super-challenging battles the
rather on-the-nose use of the word main attraction. While definitely hard –
‘Souls’ in the title, given Eldest Souls and definitely the sort of thing in which
has been making all manner of good you’ll die a lot (who’da thunk it) – you
impressions over the past few months. pick up new abilities on defeating each
Entering a dark and ancient Citadel, god, so maybe it might not actually be
your task is simple: kill a bunch of gods. that hard aft… no, it’ll be really hard. It is
This plays out in a boss rush style, with really hard. It’s one of those games.

Airplane Mode
Taking a leaf out of the Desert Bus book of
ridiculousness, Airplane Mode sits you in
economy and has you endure a full, real-time
six-hour flight. It’s the detail that makes this
more than just a basic gag, though, as you’re
able to read a book or in-flight magazine,
watch ‘hit movies of the 1930s’, chow down on
questionable high-altitude food, and plenty
of other elements familiar to anyone who’s
ever been smushed into one of these tubes
of convenience.

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Survival Tactics: evolving the battle royale genre

EvoLving the battLe RoyaLe genRe

Fortnite ’s success is so
From humble modding roots to global phenomenon,


astronomical that it’s easy to

forget its origins as
a co-op survival game in everyone wants a piece of the battle royale boom.
the vein of Minecraft and
Left 4 Dead. We meet the studios finding ways to change the genre

S
ince PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Duty: Black Ops 4’s ‘Blackout’ to EA adding a battle
became the surprise hit of 2017, royale mode to Battlefield V, as well as launching
WRITTEN BY
ALAN WEN selling over ten million copies an entire new game, Apex Legends. But while
while still in Early Access, the these games essentially bring big-budget gloss
popularity of the battle royale to a genre known (and even admired) for its
genre has continued to grow. With over 250 jankiness, these are also all inherently shooters.
million registered players across a whole host of Apex Legends arguably delivers the most polished
platforms, Fortnite is currently the biggest video take on the battle royale to date – as well as
game in the world, netting Epic an estimated implementing excellent traversal and an inspired
£1.85 billion in revenue for 2018. These are eye- ping system that vastly improves communication
watering numbers for a genre named after a cult for those of us who’d prefer not to put on a
Japanese movie from 2000 that quietly developed headset – but it nonetheless follows the formula
in the background of the modding community for of its forebears. You’ve got a mass of players (Apex
much of this decade, beginning with the ‘Survival cuts this from the ‘standard’ 100 to 60) dropping
Games’ Minecraft servers in 2012. This eventually into a map in a fight to the death, with the last
led to PUBG, launched in 2017, which saw creator one standing named the victor; loot is random
Brendan Greene develop a battle royale mod in terms of its location as well as in its power
for open-world survival game DayZ – itself a and rarity; then there’s the open island map that
mod of tactical military shooter, ARMA 2. It was, shrinks over time, gradually forcing players into
considering the genre’s current ubiquity, a ever tighter spaces for direct confrontation.
surprisingly measured and organic growth before It’s enough of a unique proposition that PUBG
reaching its final form. Corporation – the studio behind the eponymous
In the wake of the genre’s seemingly overnight game – felt the need to file a lawsuit against
success, it’s no surprise that everyone else wants Epic Games in January 2018, claiming Fortnite
in on the action. In the past year, mainstream was a copyright infringement of its own game.
studios have parachuted into the fray, from Call of While the suit has since been dropped, it goes

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Survival Tactics: evolving the battle royale genre

some way to showing how new the battle royale as early as 2015 under the working title ‘Killing Tetris 99 genuinely has all the


drama of a battle royale, as
genre felt, and how important it was to those in Games’ – it was an original pitch from one of players are gradually whittled
a position to make a lot of money from it. the studio’s artists, who described it as a third- down to one lone victor.

person shooter riff on Smash Bros. “By the time

SHOOT TO KILL it was playable, DayZ already existed and also
Little surprise, then, that mainstream studios like influenced the development,” says Hakkarainen.
Treyarch or Respawn are quite happy to simply “However, ‘Killing Games’ was much more fast-
iterate and refine the battle royale formula, albeit paced and arcade-like by design.”
with the excellent gunplay mechanics they’re When PUBG blew up, it naturally became
renowned for. Essentially, battle royale is a new
popular genre, just like the MOBA, the survival
a heavy influence on Housemarque. By then,
Stormdivers was already being described online TIMING IS
game, or the hero shooter was before it. Still, a
refreshing number of
developers are finding
as a battle royale – this was, incidentally,

“In the past year,

before any in-game
footage had been
EVERYTHING
The battle royale genre didn’t begin
ways to reinterpret the revealed – so the
mainstream studios have immediately after the release of the
battle royale. After all, studio decided to just 2000 Japanese film from which it
it’s vital that designers parachuted into the fray” go with the flow. The takes its name. Rather, it was shortly
find new ways to developer still aims after The Hunger Games movie
make their games stand out in an increasingly to differentiate the game from the competition, came out in 2012 that the idea of a
crowded genre. however, most notably by replacing the battle battle royale game took hold, with
Minecraft ’s ‘Survival Games’. Before
In April 2018, Finnish developer Housemarque royale’s slowly shrinking circle of death with a
PUBG came out, meanwhile, there
– which previously made acclaimed arcade- more dynamic storm. “The storms in Stormdivers
was Btooom! Online, a Japanese
inspired games like Resogun and Nex Machina are much more lifelike and unpredictable,” mobile game based on a manga,
– announced its new project: the multiplayer, explains Hakkarainen. “The shape of the storm which in turn was inspired by the
third-person shooter, Stormdivers. The game is never just a simple circle. The nano-storm Battle Royale film. Funnily enough,
shares a number of commonalities with the battle shrinks from different areas with different while the battle royale genre now
royale genre, even if its creators haven’t explicitly speeds, depending on its intensity.” thrives on mobile more generally,
referred to it as such. According to producer In other words, rather than just following a Btooom! Online was actually a flop.
Tuomas Hakkarainen, Stormdivers’ genesis began timer alerting you when the playing area is

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Survival Tactics: evolving the battle royale genre

 While realistic military

sims were one of PUBG ’s
reference points, other
battle royales have
doubled down on its
more irreverent qualities.

LAsT ONes
sTANDING
With the battle royale genre
becoming so saturated, casualties
are going to be inevitable. High-
profile failures have included
Boss Key’s Radical Heights, which
didn’t even get past its ‘X-Treme
Early Access’ phase, while the
ambitious, 1000-player Mavericks: about to shrink, players need to keep an eye A BREAK FROM GUNPLAY
Proving Grounds saw its developer on the storm and their surroundings, which The downside for Housemarque is that, while
Automaton Games going into also keeps them on the move. There’s also Stormdivers doesn’t yet have a release date,
administration this year. The prize an emphasis on traversal, which is why every its rivals are already charging ahead. Some of
for biggest disaster, however, goes character has a glider – adding verticality and its outstanding features, like character classes
to The Culling 2, which was received
aerial battles to the mix – while a class-based and traversal, have already been implemented
so badly that it was quickly dropped
system gives characters their own abilities, in Apex Legends, while the constant rollout of
by developer Xaviant, while the
original Culling was retooled as an
from the Scavenger’s ability to turn temporarily new seasons in Fortnite (most recently with the
Early Access, free-to-play title. Both invisible to the Juggernaut’s teleportation. launch of Chapter 2) is creating more changes
games had shut down by May 2019. Unpredictable environmental events like an and events than most players can keep up
eclipse that lowers visibility with. Stormdivers is also still
or a tornado that whips up fundamentally a shooter,
loot into the air, but also
“It’s been a tale of which means it will always
supercharges your glider, woe in making fantasy be compared in some way
are all designed to keep combat actually work” to its high-profile rivals.
players on their toes. Or, This is where a game like
as Hakkarainen succinctly Spellbreak seeks to change
Fall Guys does away with the


killing aspect of the battle puts it: “The Housemarque DNA – fast-paced things up by ditching modern or sci-fi military
royale genre. Its titular movement and proactive playstyle – can still be aesthetics for high fantasy. In game terms, firing
competitors get knocked down
and just bounce back up again. found in Stormdivers.” a gun might not be much different than casting
spells using projectiles, though Proletariat
CEO Seth Sivak acknowledges the team had
experimented with a wider range of combat
early on. “It’s been a tale of woe in making
fantasy combat, specifically melee, actually
work,” he says. “It turns out that magic arrows
were the things people liked using in our early
prototypes, and that eventually evolved into
magic spells.”
The developer hasn’t merely replaced bullets
with lightning bolts, though, as the over-the-top
feeling of being a powerful battlemage means
the game can deviate from the constraints of a
traditional shooter, whether it’s dishing out large
Area of Effect blasts or throwing a giant boulder
at your opponent.
Spellbreak also employs RPG elements, so
not only do you have eleven different playable
classes with their own passive and active
abilities, but you can also combine elements:

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Survival Tactics: evolving the battle royale genre

 Spellbreak mixes the battle

royale with a sprinkling of
RPG elements.

a fire spell and poison cloud can create a large

poisonous fireball, for example. The way players
become more powerful over the course of
a match resembles the progress in a MOBA,
although Spellbreak still follows the conventions
of battle royale – a shrinking playing area,
random loot, and last player standing can all be
found here.
More importantly, Spellbreak seems to be
attracting a player base that’s new to the battle
royale genre. “We’ve found that our fantasy
setting, RPG elements, and art style appeal to a
wide range of players who might not otherwise
have tried a battle royale game,” says Sivak.
“It’s been vital to establishing such a large player
community at this early stage of development.”
Nonetheless, like Stormdivers, the maximum
number of players per match in Spellbreak is director Ryuichi Nakada says planning for the
set at a modest 40 – assuming you can manage game started in April 2018, while early on he
to find enough players. It’s still early days forhad already envisioned the game playing out
with a standard Tetris panel while your fellow
Proletariat, which is selling the game exclusively
on the Epic Games Store at a whopping £44.99 – competitors’ screens lined up on either side.
a big ask for what’s essentially a game in Closed“I didn’t actually get the go-ahead to start doing
While Stormdivers seems like
Alpha, when the majority of battle royale games research into the battle royale genre until


a battle royale gamble,
are operating as free-to-play. afterwards,” he says. Housemarque haven’t bet all
their chips on it, as the studio
Yet despite the obvious mechanical differences, is also working on another
SOMETHING DIFFERENT it’s surprising how much Tetris 99 flows with the unannounced triple-A project.

Ironically, the same month Apex Legends dropped similar rhythm and drama of any other battle
and demonstrated what a refined triple-A royale, from how building blocks and queuing
standard battle royale up devastating ‘I’ or
could be like, the very ‘T’ pieces is akin to
notion of what a battle “Tetris 99 flows with the gathering resources
royale game is was same rhythm and drama of before the inevitable
entirely redefined. any other battle royale” skirmish, to the way
Tetris remains one game speed increases
of the most popular as fewer players remain
games ever, played by people of all ages and – mimicking the way a shrinking map intensifies
backgrounds, though mostly as a solitary line- confrontation in a battle royale.
clearing pastime. So the idea of it becoming a Even the badge system, which multiplies the
99-player battle royale to promote the Nintendo amount of garbage you can send to your rivals,
Switch Online service sounded almost like an is essentially like collecting rare powerful loot
early April Fools’ joke. from a defeated opponent, though Tetris 99 also
Yet competitive multiplayer has existed for uniquely benefits from a counter system that
the puzzler since as far back as when you could allows you to send garbage to multiple players
connect two Game Boys with a link cable. Tetris that are targeting you at the same time.
99 merely takes the series’ niche hardcore These ultimately add to making Tetris 99 a more
multiplayer techniques and introduces them to a skill-focused game encouraging aggressive play –
wider audience. after all, there’s no equivalent of toilets or bushes
The idea of combining the competitive side to hide in, especially when every player’s screen
of Tetris with the battle royale genre came from is visible. Not just subverting the expectations of
Arika, a Japanese developer already known for battle royale, Tetris 99 even subverts expectations
its Tetris: The Grand Master arcade series. In of the puzzle genre, often considered a more
an interview with Japanese website 4Gamer, casual pastime.

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Survival Tactics: evolving the battle royale genre

 ‘Door Dash’ was the first minigame devised for Fall

Guys. “It’s ridiculously simple, yet the first time we
playtested it, people were slamming at their desks
for one more go,” says Jeff Tanton.

MASS PARTICIPATION
Ultimately, Tetris 99’s successes are how
it remains a universally compelling game, mass of players running through multiple rounds
even with these new mechanics, and how it of tightly constructed and easy-to-understand
demonstrates battle royale’s appeal beyond the minigames, the number of players naturally
shooter mechanics other developers are eager shrinking after each round of eliminations
to jump straight to. For Jeff Tanton, creative until the final lucky few run the final obstacle
director at Mediatonic, battle royale was a genre course of ‘Fall Mountain’, after which only one
he was wary of getting involved in – to the point will be crowned the winner. There’s more of a
he had specifically instructed his team not to comparison to Mario Party or WarioWare than
pitch him titles in the style. “And then one of my battle royale shooters, then, but they nonetheless
designers comes back to me and says ‘Look, it’s share a commonality that made the idea viable.
a battle royale… but!’,” he laughs. “Battle royales inherently have violence within
In truth, Fall Guys isn’t really so much a battle them, but there are a million other places players
royale as it is inspired by the high-concept can go to if they want to shoot something,” says
television game shows that have existed for years Tanton. “So for us, two things appeal: mass
before, notably Takeshi’s Castle (host Takeshi participation and short time frames. Battle
Kitano has a starring role in the Battle Royale film, royales have made that commonplace and
coincidentally), It’s a Knockout, and Total Wipeout. acceptable, so that’s been massively influential for
Just like those shows, Fall Guys involves a large us, being able to pitch Fall Guys, and for people to
understand why that would be appealing.”
Much like Tetris 99, Fall Guys’ simple controls
and objectives are immediately accessible to a

FUNNY GAMes wider audience that may not be interested in the

standard battle royale/shooter mix.
While Tetris 99 is published by Nintendo, the firm’s beloved mascot/terrible plumber Mario
has also had the battle royale treatment, albeit unofficially. The browser-based Mario Play Tetris 99 in the Switch’s handheld mode, and you


can use the touchscreen to target specific players.

Royale asked 75 players to get through as many Super Mario Bros-themed levels until only
one Mario remained. While you were essentially racing against ghosts, other elements
like items, smashed blocks, and marauding enemies popped up in real-time. Naturally,
Nintendo’s lawyers didn’t look kindly on Mario Royale, or its cheekily titled replacement
DMCA Royale, and both were removed from the web by the summer of 2019.

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Survival Tactics: evolving the battle royale genre

Fall Guy’s premise also has an instant appeal Of course, when compared to Fortnite and  eveloper Proletariat also plans to
D


incorporate other RPG elements
for Mediatonic; its developers jokingly refer to other battle royale shooters with their hundreds into Spellbreak, including quests,
it as a battle royale game they might not be of millions of players, Fall Guys could be regarded guilds, and even NPCs.

terrible at. The design of the titular fall guys helps as a minor deviation. Tetris 99 has attracted 2.8
level the playing field, with their pudgy mascot million players – an impressive figure, considering
physique making there are about ten
them equally terrible “These games are funniest million Switch Online
at running, climbing, when people are falling subscribers – but
and jumping; a nod to even uptake that
the aforementioned
over and failing” high is barely a dent
game shows, where contestants also dress up in Fortnite’s 250 million player accounts. What it
in ridiculous costumes that impede them during does say, though, is that there may well be an
their physical challenges. “These games are audience there for the upcoming – and entirely
funniest when people are falling over and failing,” unrelated to Tetris 99 – Tetris Royale.
says Tanton. “So we’re not trying to create elite Ultimately, while there’s a rush to cash in on
super-machines, but rather something that’s this still relatively fresh genre, there are these
adorable, uniquely terrible, but [that we] still so small positive signs showing developers they
badly want to win.” needn’t stringently follow PUBG’s formula to
define what the battle royale can be. Tanton
goes further: “You can probably lose the ‘battle’
aspect of it,” he suggests. “It can even be co-
operative and not competitive; it doesn’t need
to be about whittling people down from ‘x’
number to one. Ultimately, for me, it’s about
mass participation, and the time you put in
is always worth it. If you’re knocked out a
minute into a game, that’s OK as you’ve only
dedicated a minute. But if you make it for 15
minutes, perfectly synchronised, the longer the
game goes on, the more you’re invested in it.
The longer you play it, the more you get out of it,
and you’re never left disappointed.”

Spellbreak is available exclusively through



the Epic Game Store – evidently, Epic don’t

feel threatened by more competition, and
are happy to foster it.

wfmag.cc \ 23
 Interface
Interactive

Interactive
The art of Thystle
Pixel artist William Beaujon tells us about his
debut project and his approach to sprite design

I
f you want to learn a new skill, it’s Set in a lush fantasy world of flying islands and
Are you a solo sometimes best to dive in at the gently time-worn buildings, Thystle is, Beaujon
developer working
deep end and pick it up as you go says, a ‘what if’ amalgam of mechanics and
on a game you
want to share with along. Take William ‘Doaklyn’ Beaujon, scenarios from his favourite strategy games.
Wireframe? If you’d for example: the Orlando, Florida- “In StarCraft II, you used to be able to pick up
like to have your based pixel artist is currently developing his first- Siege Tanks and drop them wherever you
project featured in
these pages, get ever game in Unity. But rather than start with wanted,” Beaujon says. “They removed that
in touch with us at something simple like a Flappy Bird clone, he’s mechanic because it became a strategy that
wfmag.cc/hello making Thystle: a real-time strategy game in the every Terran player did in every match, and
mould of Warcraft 2 and Age of Empires. “I have a the game’s probably better for it being gone.
prototype I built earlier in the year, but it’s super In Thystle, I have planned a catapult-like unit much
” If you sit down and take your rough,” Beaujon tells us. “It was an attempt to like the Siege Tank, and I want [it] to be lifted and


time, going at your own pace, test the waters and see if an RTS was something dropped places, but only after a certain upgrade,
you might not get ‘there’
with your art, but you will get I wanted to invest more time in. It turns out I did thus it’s something you can do, but it requires an
‘somewhere’,” Beaujon says want to spend much, much more time on it.” investment so it doesn’t become ubiquitous.”
of learning pixel art.
Tying Thystle’s fantasy and strategy elements
together will, of course, be Beaujon’s bold and
fresh pixel art. Before he started experimenting
with sprites, Beaujon was a student of drawing
and painting at university; it was only towards
the end of his studies that he began to think
about moving his talents into the digital realm.
“I kind of just fell into it,” he says. “I knew by the
end of college that making art for galleries just
wasn’t for me… Eventually, I realised that the
best way to take advantage of the skills I learned
in college was to make 2D games. I was really

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 Interface
Interactive

INSPIRATION
“For Thystle, I’m trying to
capture the feeling of capricci,
which are paintings of
classical ruins infused with
 or consistency, Beaujon often draws a
F fantasy elements,” Beaujon


sketch before turning it into pixel art. says of his art influences.
“I need everything to be consistent in “The main artist I take
terms of style and level of detail,” he says.
inspiration from for this is a
French painter named Hubert
Robert. There’s something
scared of pixel art at first – everything I made the engine without being hamstrung by rigging, about the warm glow, mixed
with the cosy feeling of being
looked silly, and I was really frustrated.” skinning, adjusting polygon flow. This immediacy
surrounded by these hulking,
Despite those initial frustrations, Beaujon helps to bridge the gap between idea and reality.” long-abandoned structures
stuck with it; patience, he says, is a useful trait Having first begun to experiment with Unity a that I’m trying to capture.
when you’re a pixel artist. “Patience is definitely few years ago, Beaujon says he’s found a similar “Other artists that I
particularly love are Goya for
important,” he tells level of immediacy
his amazing (and sometimes
us. “I know it sounds “I was really scared in this area of game quite dark) imagination,
clichéd to say ‘Take design, too. “I do find Gustave Moreau for his hazy
a break’, but for me,
of pixel art at first” it easy to get things up use of colour and depictions
getting up and going and running. There are of mythological elements, and
Odilon Redon for his calm take
for a walk is an integral part of letting some of guides on Unity’s website specifically
on fantasy and dreams.
that frustration subside and allowing acceptance for using it with pixel art.” “I owe a lot to artists I’ve
for the difficulty of art-making to take hold.” With Thystle’s prototype and art style found on Twitter in recent
Like fellow designer Thomas Feichtmeir (see established, Beaujon is now concentrating on years too, such as @jmw327,
@soapdpzel, and @kaynimatic
page three), Beaujon believes that the challenge developing the units and combat system, with
(animator for River City Girls).
of working within a set of restrictions – a colour the aim being to get a demo ready for the next If it weren’t for them – and
palette and low resolution, for example – lies at six months. Meanwhile, he’s also honing another my admiration of their work
the core of pixel art’s appeal. “Since starting pixel skill: animation. “By now, I know the basics – I may not even have been
art, my understanding of colour has levelled up – easing, squash/stretch, follow through motivated to learn pixel art in
the first place!”
drastically,” he says. “In traditional painting, you’re – and just knowing those seems to
usually blending colours, and so you end up have served me well so far,” he says.
with probably millions of them. But a lot of that “One thing is for sure: making
becomes noise, which in pixel art you have to be this game will give me plenty of
careful about because it looks more noticeable. practice…”
By being restricted to rendering an object in,
say, two colours, you’re forced to consider more
 Pixel art is a useful shorthand
carefully how they’re being used.” for a solo developer, Beaujon
Beaujon also adds that pixel art’s greater says. “It doesn’t always come
out pretty, but you can more
immediacy – what he describes as its “hand- easily attain a solitary vision
made feel” – is what allows it to endure in a for a project.”

modern games industry of hi-res textures and

increasing realism. “Even though high-definition
games come with their own level of insane
craftsmanship, the overall direction often feels
detached… When I play them, I might be blown
away by what I’m seeing, but I don’t really feel like
I’m playing anyone’s artistic vision. In contrast,
pixel art allows an immediacy for the game
designer to almost literally draw their ideas into

wfmag.cc \ 25
 Interface
Column

Hello, can you

spare a minute to
talk about games?

I
’ve just had the honour of recording And yet, ‘games’ still has the perception of being
an episode of Richard Herring’s Leicester different to its entertainment siblings.
Square Theatre Podcast*. I had a Of course, this is in no way news to many
great time, but it was a bit odd for of you. Gamers frequently bemoan the fact that
several reasons: Firstly, it wasn’t at the games are treated so differently in the media
Leicester Square Theatre, it was at The Deco in when compared to movies or music. It’s rare to
Northampton. Secondly, the other guest that meet someone who “doesn’t like films” because,
night was the Reverend Richard Coles and, to obviously, that’s absurd. Cinema’s a broad
STEVE MCNEIL date, we’ve not found there to be much overlap church, and there’s something for everyone to
Steve is a preacher now. in our audiences, demographically speaking. enjoy. Ditto music. But not so games, for many.
Thirdly, and most relevant here, the most Why is this? Certainly, the requirement to
common thing people said to me afterwards actively engage is a huge barrier. The success
was that, while they were no longer gamers, of the Nintendo Wii was due in no small part
they’d been interested enough by the things we’d to it allowing people who couldn’t find L3 on a
covered in our chat to grab a copy of my book. DualShock if their life depended on it to feel in
Gaming is still woefully underserved by control of a game in a way not possible since
traditional media in terms of coverage and, for we drifted away from joysticks with one button.
“How do we those who consider themselves non-gamers, Ditto, smartphone gaming. I’ve yet to meet
gamers share one imagines they simply believe this to be someone who “doesn’t play games” who hasn’t
our world because it’s not a thing for them, or that it is in poured hours on their commute into Candy
some way niche. Of course, the games industry Crush or something similar.
with those
is larger than music and movies combined, and So how do we gamers share our world with
who feel it’s its history littered with many personalities and those who feel it’s not for them, and help draw
not for them?” blunders that make for great reading. them into the many things it has to offer?
I suppose we need someone to actively spread
the good word of games in a way that draws
 teve (right) with a 1990s telly
S


personality. Rumour is the latter’s people in. Perhaps my pairing with Richard
had ‘some success’ since then. Coles was prophetic, and I am destined to be
video games’ prophet. Although, given the
number of people that left in the interval after
the Reverend left, I’d hazard that unlike John
Lennon being “bigger than Jesus”, I remain very
much smaller.
Still, maybe me and Richard Coles aren’t so
different after all. Although, even if I fully commit
now, I’ll never be able to catch up and do as
many drugs as he managed in the 1980s. Still.
We’re both, in our own small way, attempting
to convince people of the value of the thing we
love – I’ll leave you to decide amongst yourselves
which is more important.**

* RHLSTP!
** It’s games

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 Toolbox
Contents

Toolbox
The art, theory, and production of video games
28. CityCraft
Tips for making an easy-
to-navigate virtual city

30. F
 inding funding
An indie developer’s guide
to financing

32. Making a
licensed game
The value of making games
based on existing IPs

36. Metrics: an explainer

A guide to metric terms, and
their importance

38. A
 new Dev Diary #10
Why a game’s success hinges
on solid art direction
 ind out more about
F


40. S
 ource Code the plusses and minus-
es of making licensed
Code your own turn-based games. See page 32.
combat system

42. Directory
Details of next February’s
Yorkshire Games Festival

 trong art direction can make the

S


difference between a good game and

a great one. Find out more on page 38.

wfmag.cc \ 27
 Toolbox
Advice

Making navigable
virtual cities
Some pointers on creating urban spaces that
are easy to read, and effortless to navigate

AUTHOR
KONSTANTINOS DIMOPOULOS
Konstantinos Dimopoulos is a game urbanist and designer, combining a PhD
in urban planning with video games. He is the author of the forthcoming Virtual
Cities atlas, designs game cities, and consults on their creation. game-cities.com

G
etting lost is an intrinsic part of ones include a variety of radar-like systems,
the metropolitan experience. in-game versions of GPS tracking, maps with
Silent Hill Maps
But while aimless exploration can markers and waypoints, compasses, and
Maps may be a common
navigational aid in games, result in some intriguing video suggested routes rendered on the ground.
but this doesn’t mean they game experiences, more often than Lighting and sound design have also been used
have to be boring. The original not, we want to ensure that players are able to to suggest desired directions, and are generally
Silent Hill featured realistic navigate our cities; ideally, they should only get considered to be more subtle ways of guiding
yet evocative maps that
lost if it’s part of the intended experience. players. When players are, for example, faced
didn’t restrict themselves to
conveying the layout of the We don’t want bored or irritated players with a T-junction, the better-lit, noisier branch
city. Instead, they kept track running around in confused circles, hating our will usually be what they head towards. Similarly,
of objectives, and allowed the cities, and this is why we have to guide them. the use of colour, recognisable patterns – like
player to note things on them.
We should show them the finest corners of our wide roads that lead to squares, or an increase in
They effectively functioned as a
journal, GPS, quest tracker, and creations, help them find their way around, allow environmental detail around important places –
storytelling device all at once. them to use our environments to their advantage, can make spaces easier to grasp. Visual tricks like
and let them play without relying too much on objects that draw attention to important spatial
immersion-breaking UI elements. Ideally, we want elements, and recognisable symbols, can make
players to understand, appreciate, and really get exploration a more fluid experience, too.
to know our cities. As living parts of the game world, NPCs can
 he Arc de Triomphe,
T provide directions or, better yet, ask players to


shown here in a colourised

aerial photograph from
THE WAY OF VIDEO GAMES follow them to particular locations – Shenmue’s
1921, is an archetypal There are several methods for helping players opening sequence offers a fine example of
example of a landmark
situated on a node.
traverse virtual worlds. From the subtle to the this technique. Another option is to provide
blatantly obvious – like huge floating arrows distant views of a city, allowing players to take
pointing to the next objective – there are far too in its structure; Dark Souls’ Anor Londo was
many to list here. Some of the more common wonderfully introduced from above as players
were flown into it.

THE WAY OF URBANISM

Planners and engineers have long been
interested in guiding people through real-
life cities, too. With transportation and
communication being so vital, and often
intertwined with civic functions, facilitating them
has been a concern throughout history – as has
ensuring that gathering places and important
locations are easy to find. Naming roads, devising

28 / wfmag.cc
 Toolbox
Advice

 razy Taxi’s frantic pace

C


didn’t give players time to
DISTRICTS: Cohesive areas characterised and construct a mental map;
hence the big floating
defined by common traits. Such a trait could be arrow pointing to the taxi’s
street numbering systems, providing signs aesthetic (think of La Boca’s colourful buildings next stop.
and public maps, ranking road networks, and in Buenos Aires), architectural (like La Défense
arranging landmarks are just some of the tools in Paris), functional and economic (a red light
still widely used today. district, an industrial area, or a working-class
Architect and design theorist Christopher suburb), and even an area’s age (the old town).
Alexander’s classic work A Pattern Language Further reading
offers several suggestions on creating urban NODES: These are important focal points
Here are four books that will
environments that stimulate social interaction, that help orientation, like squares and junctions. help you through the process
and offer intuitive, welcoming, and easily of designing a lively, easy-to-
navigable spaces. It’s something that’s easily LANDMARKS: The equivalent of what level navigate, and memorable city:
applicable in game design. In World of Warcraft, designers often describe as ‘weenies’ – major
The Image of the City by Kevin
clustering game-related activities together points of interest, are easy to spot towering Lynch (The MIT Press)
around certain centres above the average city
brought vibrancy to its “NPCs can provide building. Famous landmarks Good City Form also by Kevin
cities, and at the same include the Acropolis, the Lynch (The MIT Press)
time forced players to
directions or ask Empire State Building,
A Pattern Language: Towns,
familiarise themselves with players to follow them” and obelisks. Landmarks Buildings, Construction
the important sections of can be major, minor, and by Christopher Alexander,
each town by moving between vendors, auction even personal, and we should always try to Sara Ishikawa, and Murray
houses, banks, trainers, and quest givers. In highlight them. Silverstein (OU Press)

WoW ’s major cities, high-level services are An Architectural Approach To

tightly clustered, and districts are given clear Augmenting the above with things like scale, Level Design by Christopher W.
boundaries. Alexander, after all, claimed that a gradients and slopes, light, and sound will allow Totten (CRC Press)
neighbourhood without a boundary is a weak one players to construct a mental map of your city,
that lacks identifiable character. and thus make navigating it more satisfying and
Urban planner and author Kevin Lynch efficient. Imagine, for example, a player following
also came up with some famous and widely a road to your city’s holy centre: the buildings
referenced tools we can use to make our cities grow taller and more imposing, and the sounds
legible and easier to navigate. He settled on the of daily life subside, as the player climbs a sacred
five crucial elements people experience when hill bathed in ethereal light.
moving around cities – the same elements level
designers can use to help players create their
own mental maps of virtual spaces. These are:

PATHS: Routes along which people move

throughout the city, connecting landmarks,
districts, and places. Paths can be roads,
highways, railways, and so on.

EDGES: The distinct, usually physical boundaries

and the breaks in continuity of the urban tissue.  Architecture is an excellent
way of differentiating districts
These borders could be made from railways, city from each other, as with Mafia
walls, waterfronts, and other elements. III ’s French Colonial buildings.

wfmag.cc \ 29
 Toolbox
Advice

Choosing the right

development deal
Should you self-publish, or take a more traditional
route? Reid lays out the options open to indie devs
AUTHOR
REID SCHNEIDER
Reid is the producer of Splinter Cell, Battlefield Vietnam,
Army of Two, Batman: Arkham Origins , and Batman:
Arkham Knight . Follow him on Twitter: @rws360

W
ith more people playing the project versus how much the publisher will
games and more indie need to add to get the game finished. In these
developers making them, the relationships, spending money always correlates
market’s seeing an ever- to risk for the publisher.
greater influx of content. The positive side of a deal like this is that if a
This poses a challenge for both developers and publisher picks up a title and invests money in it,
publishers: publishers want quality games that then they have a vested interest in its success.
also stand out in a crowded market; developers The negative is that when publishers invest,
need to be sure they can execute their vision, developers can sometimes lose control of their
which can often be much harder than expected. IP, or worse, find themselves subjected to a
As the market has grown and matured, so litany of creative opinions. If you’ve read any
multiple avenues for funding a game have of my previous columns, you’ll know I believe
gradually opened up. So with this in mind, that projects need to have a single visionary
where should a budding indie developer behind them who, while taking feedback from
turn for financing? Every option has both collaborators, retains overall control. In short,
pluses and minuses, which I’ll layout here. design by committee does not work. I’ve been
This is information I wish we had when we there, and it’s a veritable race to the bottom.
started Typhoon! Also, when the game is released, nobody will
blame the publisher for a weaker title: the
TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER DEAL developer owns it, for better or worse *.
With traditional publisher deals, the publisher
generally puts down an ‘advance’ – money the
developer uses to fund the development of
The Last Guardian its project. These deals are frequently seen


developer Fumito
Ueda’s next game
in ‘work for hire’-type relationships, where
will be coming to our a developer’s building a game based on a
screens, thanks to
funding from license. We are, however, starting to see more
Kowloon Nights. publishers – including EA and Take-Two – set up
divisions that work with smaller developers on
original properties; examples of these include
EA Partners or Private Division at Take-Two.
Once a publisher recoups all its costs (developer
advance, marketing, QA, PR), the developer gets
a ‘royalty’, which is some percentage of the title’s
revenue. The percentage can vary depending on The wonderful Papo & Yo is an example of a personal


game brought to life thanks to government funding

how much money the developer contributed to – in this case, the Canada Media Fund.

30 / wfmag.cc
 Toolbox
Advice

I s there a button that


makes this stop?
Please make it stop.
FIRST-PARTY traditional routes. If you take this route, bear
DEVELOPMENT DEALS in mind that private investors will want to
With first parties like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, know what’s going on with your game and
and now Google competing for users, they’re how their money’s being spent. You may find
signing up an increasing number of developers yourself in a situation where people will want
to make exclusive games for them. First parties answers early and often.
know that while technology sparks interest, 2 Look for a government grant. In Canada, we
content is what sells systems. Publishing have funds like the CMF, which have been
agreements like these can be awesome for used to birth cool games like Papo & Yo and
developers, as they give them an opportunity Outlast. Government grants can also require
to reach a wide audience: if a first party is a lot of paperwork, however, and there can
publishing your game, you’ll likely be featured be issues with IP ownership. In short, go in
prominently on their digital storefront or with your eyes open – there’s no such thing
in retail. as free money.
The downside of these deals is that
developers can be forced to do work they may GAMING FUNDS FOR PROJECTS
not necessarily believe in. For example, does Investment funds, like Kowloon Nights** and
anyone remember the multitude of games former Sony chairman Jack Tretton’s IGV,
that Microsoft published to push Kinect? can give developers capital to build their
While they were quirky, few projects. These funds
were particularly memorable. “When publishers typically don’t take over
(Probably the most egregious the developer’s IP, but
invest, developers
example was Kinect Star rather serve as a way to get
Wars, developed by the late can sometimes lose games made. The downside
Terminal Reality. This game control of their IP” is that competition among
had some positives, but its studios for this is high, and
dance-offs weren’t among them. Darth Vader understandably, investment funds will only back
and Emperor Palpatine body-popping? Epic.) experienced teams. In short, if you’re new to the
business, this isn’t likely to be an avenue that will
SELF-FUNDING work for you. Also, these funds aren’t publishers
Even a few years ago, self-funding just wasn’t – the onus is still on the developer to market and
possible for most indie developers. The reasons sell their game.
for its growth are two-fold: digital storefronts In closing, there are no right answers.
enable developers to sell their games without The only way to get a project funded is through
the expense of pressing discs, and professional- resilience, hard work, and dedication. Getting
quality game engines are available to indie a game funded isn’t for the faint of heart, and
developers at the click of a button. The problem unfortunately, there’s a high chance of it not
is that a busy market makes standing out from working out. All that being said, don’t give up.
the crowd really tough; the upside is that a Even if you don’t make a massive hit, you’ll still
developer has full control of the game they want have learned along the way.
to make.
*
Full transparency: Typhoon’s first game is being published by
The question, then, is how to self-finance an 505, and we have a great relationship with them. While we don’t
indie game. There are a few avenues for this: always agree on everything, they’ve been awesome partners.
Typhoon still owns the Savage Planet IP, and both parties are
1 Your company could sell equity (or shares) invested in its long-term success.
in its business to investors. This takes work, **
Full transparency: Kowloon Nights is the sister company of
but provides funding opportunities outside Makers Fund, an investor in Typhoon.

wfmag.cc \ 31
 Toolbox
Becoming a superfan: how to make a licensed game

Becoming a superfan:
how to make a
licensed game
To make a great licensed game, learn about your
audience and embrace your inner nerd, Stuart writes
AUTHOR
STUART MAINE
Over his career, Stuart has worked with brands including Angry Birds,
SpongeBob SquarePants, Warhammer 40,000, Strictly Come Dancing,
Transformers, UglyDolls, Looney Tunes, and Mickey Mouse.

R
egardless of genre or platform, day, one of the biggest problems the industry
pretty much every game can faces is ensuring new games get seen. You might
be divided into being ‘licensed’ think your ‘Colourful Warriors Punch Bad Guys’
or ‘unlicensed’. We call games is the best game ever, but getting news sites,
licensed if they use someone else’s influencers, and an audience to notice you is
intellectual property (or IP), as in, ‘They have the going to take a huge amount of effort. On the
license to use that brand without being sued by other hand, if the same game was released with
whoever owns it’. the Power Rangers brand it will instantly receive
To clarify, an IP is a brand that someone has attention. Of course, games without an IP can
established using movies, TV, games, books, and be a success, it just takes luck (Fortnite) or a big
so on: Star Wars is an IP, as are Harry Potter marketing push (Destiny).
and Dracula. Most IP is owned and controlled

I f you already know the IP

by a parent company, and sooner or later, that THE RISKS


(such as Warhammer company is going to want a video game set in While the attention is great, there are challenges
Combat Cards for me) try to their universe. This leads to a development team when working with external IP. These include
remember why you loved
that brand in the first place. being told: “We’re making a game based on
 ith Visa’s Financial Football, the publisher secured the
W
brand X!” – which is where you come in.


IP for us. Now we had the complication of needing to

satisfy publisher, IP holder, and fans.
THE VALUE OF AN IP
If you work at a game studio, you’re likely to work
with someone else’s IP at some point in your
career, and even if you’re an indie developer,
there are strong reasons why you should get
this experience. Working with an IP will give
you a grounding in making audience-focused
decisions, working within constraints, and
delivering a polished product on time.
But the big benefit of working with an IP
is that your game is going to get noticed.
With huge numbers of games released every

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 Toolbox
Becoming a superfan: how to make a licensed game

As demonstrated by Diablo Immortal, bringing a PC



game IP to mobiles can alienate its original audience.

Instead, focus on the much larger mobile audience.

getting things approved by the – usually knowledge of the IP. In order to make a game RESONANCE
non-gamer – IP holders, working within the fans genuinely want, you have to understand
In the past, licensed games
the constraints of their universe, and most why the audience loves it, what they dislike could use IP to drive initial
importantly, making the right decisions when about the IP, trends and changes in the brand sales, then not care if players
you’re not the game’s audience. over time, who their influencers are, and so on. kept playing the game or
And you can’t do this ironically, or while not (because they already
mocking the IP because it’s just for kids or only had their money). With more
“The big benefit of working and more games being
for geeks. We have a rule on the wall in our team
with an IP is that your game area, which says ‘We embrace nerdery’. For as developed to be ‘live’, and
is going to get noticed” long as the project lasts, you need as deep an serviced with extra content
to keep players engaged for
understanding of the IP as you can manage.
a long time, resonating with
Getting this right is key to making a game You need to be a superfan.
your audience is incredibly
which is loved by fans of that IP, such as important. You need fans
Transformers: Devastation, or Batman: Arkham UNDERSTANDING to stick around, giving good
Asylum (it helps if you deliver a genuinely fun YOUR AUDIENCE reviews and forming the
game, of course). On the other hand, games The main reason for becoming a superfan is heart of your community.
like Aliens: Colonial Marines failed to resonate to help bridge the gap between you and that
with the IP’s fans, meaning those players didn’t
recommend the game to others, and the whole
point of using an IP was lost.

BECOMING A SUPERFAN
There are two parts to making a game that
the IP’s fans love – understanding the IP and
understanding your audience.
I believe that as a developer, just knowing
about an IP isn’t enough. You need to unleash
your inner nerd and become a ‘superfan’ of that
brand. To be a superfan, you have to immerse
yourself in that universe, learning and absorbing
as much as you can, so that you quickly progress
through just knowing about it and cross over
into fandom.
You see, reading a few websites and making  orking on several games for an IP means never
W


getting its theme out of your head. Ohhh, who

a mood board will only get you a superficial lives in a pineapple under the sea?

wfmag.cc \ 33
 Toolbox
Becoming a superfan: how to make a licensed game

IP’s audience. You may be younger or older

than them, or the brand may be targeted at a
different country or gender, or linked to fashions
and trends you have no idea about. Of all the
licensed games I’ve worked on, only a couple
were aimed at ‘me’, but I managed to dig into the
core of each audience anyway. Let’s look at how:

Brand research
As mentioned earlier, the first step is becoming
a superfan of the brand itself, otherwise, your
starting point for the second half will be flawed.
 igure 1: Empathy mapping produces spider diagrams
F


• Watch the shows/movies/internet episodes, which pose simple questions then keep asking ‘Why?’.
Digging down produces fundamental truths which you
and listen to podcasts. can build from.
• Play any board or video games, and check
out critical reviews and fan opinions to see
what those games got right or wrong. their likes, dislikes, and play patterns. This is
CROSSOVERS • Read books/comics/websites to absorb where research comes in.
Some licensed games are
the language used by the IP, and also the Here are some common techniques, and
crossovers featuring multiple
common terms used by its fans. while I don’t have space to go deeply into them,
IP together. Examples include
• Visit conventions – you can find a fan this list should at least let you get online where
Angry Birds Transformers,
Team Sonic Racing games, gathering for pretty much any IP. you can do more research.
and all of the ‘Lego X’ games. • Talk to fans and ask them questions (more
It can be difficult to balance on this later). However, you need to agree • Mind or empathy mapping. The practice
multiple IP equally, so you this with the license holder, as most licensed of creating complicated spider diagrams
may need to pick one as the games are covered by a strict NDA (Non- which branch out again and again (see
primary brand, with the others Disclosure Agreement). Figure 1). The closest points to the centre
as ‘guests’. Naturally, I’d default are questions you want to answer, which
to making your main brand the
Audience research then branch out as you dig into more and
one belonging to the company
Knowing the IP inside-out is only half the story more detail.
which is paying for the game.
– you also need to understand its audience. • Another approach is to create ‘personae’ of
Unless you happen to be a 40-plus American your audience. These are like role-playing
mother, it can be tricky to design a game around game characters, except instead of magical
feats, you work out their name, sex, age,
likes, what they do during the day, what they
play, eat, and listen to, and so on. The goal is

 Games containing multiple

IP, such as Epic Mickey 2 ,
require constant negotiation
between IP holders.
Build their trust through a
deep understanding of
their brands.

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Becoming a superfan: how to make a licensed game

 ites like Deconstructor of

S


Fun (pictured here

analysing the dress-up
RPG, Love Nikki ) provide
information on gamers, but
consider other areas – such
as the toy industry – for
surprising insights.

OBSCURE
LORE
One thing I’ve learned over
many licensed games
is that you can’t be too
obscure or go too deep
with your references. While
I’d recommend staying
‘mainstream’ for your big
uses of the IP, such as who
your antagonist is, or where
to create a ‘real’ fan of your IP which you can Understand your audience and embrace your game is set, you should
include as many obscure
refer back to as you make decisions. what they love about the IP and you can help
references to the IP’s lore as
• Qualitative research is gathering detailed your team make good decisions which the
possible. Even if only a few
answers from a few people. You can chat to fans will approve of, rather than just making
fans recognise your niche
them or ask them to fill in surveys, but you’re ‘generic game X’ and draping the license over reference, they’re likely to
basically trying to replace guesswork (‘I the top of it. share it with everyone else
think they like X’) with facts (‘I know they like Showing that you know the IP inside-out will (on Wikis, for example). This
X’). However, unless you ask thousands of also reassure the license-holder that their IP is obscure lore helps establish
people, the results you get will be subjective, in safe hands. Trust me, this can make the lives that your game is authentic,
so combine this approach with some of of everyone on the project a lot easier. not some quick cash-in.
the others. So, if you find yourself working on an IP you’ve
• Quantitative research means looking at stats never heard of, you can either shrug and plod
from hundreds or – ideally – thousands of on through the next year of your life, or you can
your players. This can reveal useful trends fully embrace your inner nerd, learn something  esearch site quantic-
R


foundry.com has some

and patterns which the fans might not even new, and maybe deliver a great game. great – and free – blog posts
on gamer demographics
realise, such as ‘Fans of IP ‘X’ are also fans and audience motivations.
of IP ‘Y’’. You can gather this information by
running Google surveys, or searching for
surveys and reports from other industries
– there’s a surprising amount of free data
out there.

KNOW YOUR IP
Two accusations levelled at licensed games is
that they’re rushed or lazy.
The first problem is difficult – licensed games
often have to hit a hard deadline – so try to
design a game which can be built from a solid,
fun core outwards. This will mean you can ship
a small, enjoyable game anytime – it just gets
deeper and wider until you run out of time.
But the second accusation – that licensed
games are cheap cash-ins to grab fan money – is
entirely within your control.

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Advice

Metrics: its key

terms explained
DAU? ARPU? D7 or L7? Eric provides a guide to metrics terms,
and why they’re important for game design

AUTHOR
ERIC MCCONNELL
Eric McConnell has been an engineer, game designer, and product manager
at companies such as Rockstar Games and Zynga. Currently he is a product
manager at Google where he works on Google Assistant games.

W
hen I joined the video games played your game multiple times in the last seven
industry, I distinctly remember days, they’ll still be counted as one towards WAU.
meeting product managers and MAU stands for Monthly Active Users. It’s the
data analysts for the first time. sum of unique users for the last 28 days, and
They spoke about DAUs and measured the same way as WAU. MAU can be
CPIs, D7 versus Stickiness, and how our latest event measured over 28, 30, or 31 days.
pushed ARPPU to a new peak. I felt like there was Other metrics in this category can include new
a secret business language I wasn’t aware of – an vs. repeat users, payers vs. non-payers, and active
alphabet soup of metrics. If LTV sounds like a new users within different game progression points.
cable channel, then fear not: I’m going to explain
some of the most common metrics for you here. HOW MUCH?
Engagement metrics measure how much users
HOW MANY ARE PLAYING? are playing a game over a given period. These
Active user metrics measure how many unique are ideal for measuring how effective a game’s
users played a game over a given period (see features and core loop are at engaging users.
Figure 1). Graphing these metrics is a great way Stickiness (see Figure 2) is a rough estimate
to measure marketing or user acquisition efforts. of how many days, on average, users are playing
DAU stands for Daily Active Users. This a game over a week or month. It’s measured by
measures the sum of unique users over a 24- finding the ratio of DAU to WAU or DAU to MAU.
hour period. This doesn’t take into account any If DAU/MAU is 0.33, then users, on average,
repeat usage for a given unique user. played your game on ten days out of the month.
WAU stands for Weekly Active Users – the sum L7 and L28 are another, more accurate way of
of unique users for the last seven days. If a user measuring how many days a user has played your

Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Mon Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Mon
Player 1 1 1 1 1 1 Player 1 1 1 1 1 1

Player 2 1 1 1 1 1 Player 2 1 1 1 1 1

Player 3 1 1 1 1 1 Player 3 1 1 1 1 1

Player 4 1 1 1 Player 4 1 1 1

Player 5 1 Player 5 1

DAU 2 1 2 3 2 4 3 2 Stickiness - - - - - - 0.6 0.5

WAU - - - - - - 5 4 L7 - - - - - - 3.4 4.25

Figure 1: Comparing DAU to WAU in a given eight-day period. Figure 2: Stickiness (DAU/WAU) and L7 are two effective engagement metrics.


36 / wfmag.cc
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Advice

Figure 3: Install and DAU tracking for a four-day period. Figure 4: The D1, D3, and D7 for the same four-day period.



game over a week or month. L7 is calculated by with monthly subscriptions. Week one to week
adding up the DAU for the last seven days and two return rate is possibly the most important
dividing it by the WAU: Sum (DAU of each day) retention metric, because it tells you how new
/ WAU. L28 is done the same way, but the sum users feel about your game in relation to others.
is over the last 28 days and the denominator is
MAU. An L7 of 2.5 means that on average, users WHAT ARE THEY PAYING?
that played a game at least once over a week Monetary metrics measure the financial health Bringing It
played it for two and a half days in that period of your game, and can help determine the effect
All Together
(see Figure 3). Every game has a core mechanic of a sale on user spending, the impact of new
Individual metric analysis
with a metric attached to it. This is the best way to premium items, and forecast future revenue can give you a health report
measure engagement agnostic of days or weeks. based on user volume. on a small segment of your
ARPU stands for Average Revenue Per User. game. Using multiple metrics
HOW OFTEN? It takes the total revenue from in-app purchases together can give you an
overview of how things like
Retention metrics measure what percent of (IAPs) and divides it by the total of unique users.
price changes or new features
unique users return to your game between two One great use for ARPU is to measure the uplift affect your user base.
time periods. High retention means your users in conversations and purchases during a sale or This isn’t an exhaustive list, as
are returning to play often; low retention means marketing campaign. there are hundreds of ways to
a large portion of your users are churning. High ARPPU stands for Average Revenue Per Paying view and slice revenue-based
metrics. But now you’re armed
retention is important for achieving high active User. It measures users that have paid at least with an understanding of basic
user numbers – it’s like a once in their lifetime. ARPPU metrics terms, hopefully it looks
snowball rolling down a hill. “Every game has a core will be greater than or equal a little less like alphabet soup!
D1, D7, and D28 to ARPU.
represent return rates
mechanic with a metric LTV stands for Life Time
for users that started on attached to it” Value. It measures the
a specific day. For all the overall revenue you’ll receive,
users that start on a particular day, that day is D0. on average, from an individual user. This is an
D1 is the percent of users that started on day 0 important metric, as it will help focus strategy,
and played on day 1, the day after day 0. D7 is the determine user acquisition cost, and drive revenue
percent of users that started on day 0 and played forecasting. If LTV is high, then you need to focus
on day 7, the day seven days after day 0. D28 is on acquiring more users. If LTV is low, then you
the same as D7 but for the day 28 days after day need to focus on converting non-payers or finding
0 (see Figure 4). more ways to monetise your current users.
Weekly Return Rate represents the percentage CPI stands for Cost Per Install. This is how
of users that played in one week and returned much it costs for you to get a new user. CPI
the following week. Generally, this is measured on and LTV have an important relationship, as LTV
a rolling basis, meaning that it looks at the users should be higher than CPI or else it doesn’t make
who played your game at least once between sense to pay to acquire new users. In a world
14 and seven days ago, and what percentage of where organic installs – users installing your
those users played again the week after. game of their own volition – can’t be relied on,
Monthly return rate is rarely a core retention CPI will show how much user growth will cost
metric unless you’re dealing with MMOs or games your game.

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Advice

 olour, contrast, form, framing – all

C


import aspects of art direction that
help focus the player’s attention.

Indie reflections:
AUTHOR
JEFF SPOONHOWER
Making Anew Part 10
Jeff Spoonhower is a Art direction is a vital consideration for any
developer, artist, and college
professor who’s been working indie game. Jeff provides a few pointers
on triple-A and indie games
for over 17 years.

E
anewthegame.com
stablishing the overall art direction vision in ways the player will see and understand.
for your indie game is a crucial step Next, do some research. How have other
in the development process. It’s successful developers working in similar genres
a decision that will influence your approached the look of their games? Fire up
game’s design, budget, schedule, and your console, play through your game library,
more. Understanding how art direction fits into and analyse the competition. Effective art
development will make your game more likely direction is difficult to plan and execute, so you
to succeed – so here’s a brief look at some key may base your game’s art direction on that of
things to consider. successful games in the same genre. Or, you may
intentionally choose an atypical or wholly original
CHOOSE YOUR PALETTE art direction – this will likely help your game stand
Art direction is the overarching design aesthetic out, but may present challenging design risks
– the guidelines that dictate how your game and consequences.
should look. This might sound similar to creative Set yourself up for success by choosing an
direction, discussed in issue 13, but creative art direction that your team’s passionate about.
direction governs all aspects of the game Your artist or team will spend hours creating
(art, sound, story, gameplay, systems), while characters, environments, and props, so they
art direction specifically focuses on visuals. should have input on the art direction. If your
Retro-styled games like Fez It determines how characters are designed and artist loves pixel art, is skilled in its creation, and


have a strong, personal art

direction that effectively sets
animated, the world’s architectural style, the your game lends itself to this visual style, it might
the tone for the game world. colours used in lighting and textures, whether make sense to pursue this direction. If your artist
assets are 2D or 3D, and overall visual fidelity. has a life-long fascination with 2D hand-drawn
Consider what type of art makes the most animation, then let them use that style for your
sense for your game. Listen to your instincts game. Likewise, if your game is rooted in more
and find a visual style that best represents your realistic, representational forms, and your artist is
game’s storytelling, gameplay, and emotional eager to create photorealistic 3D art assets, that
goals. Art direction should support your creative direction may work best.

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Advice

While interest in a certain style of art is

important, you should also consider your art
team’s experience and skills. You have a finite
amount of time and money to make your game,
so you don’t want to spend too much of either
taking your art team into unfamiliar creative
territories. The key is to balance the creative
passions of your team with their ability to execute
the game’s design in a reasonable amount
of time.
The art direction you choose will have a direct Certain areas in Anew are strongly


influenced by late seventies and

impact on your game’s budget, team size, and early eighties sci-fi movies.
production schedule. For example, in making a
photorealistic, open-world, first-person shooter,
you’ll likely need a large art team to create the while listening to a lot of 20th-century orchestral
necessary assets to fill out the world on schedule. music. Together, these inspirational references
 i-res polygonal characters
H


Complex, realistic, 3D art assets are expensive helped shape Anew’s art direction. can increase the production
and time-consuming to produce. You may be able The only feasible way to populate our large, values in your game, but they
are costly and time-
to produce art assets faster at a lower cost if your open-world game with the many necessary art consuming to create.
game features a hand-drawn look. assets was to create them in 2D, using a stylised
While creating pixel art certainly isn’t easy, aesthetic. I developed several techniques in
there’s a reason the indie game market is flooded Photoshop to efficiently create characters, props,
with games in this style. Lo-fi pixel art can be weapons, and other objects that appear to have
significantly less expensive to depth and dimensionality –
produce than highly detailed “Consider what type almost as if they were created Sources of
2D or 3D assets. The retro
of art makes the most in 3D – but made in a fraction Inspiration
aesthetic is also a bit more of the time that a true 3D Looking for ideas on art
forgiving overall, as far as sense for your game” polygonal asset would have direction in games? Check
expectations go, across all taken to finish. An illusion out some of the beautiful
‘making of’ art books available,
aspects of game design (visual fidelity, animation of detail in Anew’s art style gives it a high-quality
such as The Art of The Last
complexity, world design, enemy AI, and so on). feel. Approximately 80% of the art in Anew is in of Us, The Legend of Zelda:
A small development team on a shoestring this 2D style, with the remainder created in 3D Hyrule Historia, The Art of
budget could shave years, and tens of thousands using Maya. Making 2D and 3D art work together BioShock Infinite, and The Art
of the Mass Effect Universe.
of dollars, off its production by choosing this type seamlessly in our 2.5D environments has proven
They’re packed with inspiring
of art direction. to be a formidable challenge! images and behind-the-scenes
It’s also important to note that Anew’s art glimpses. And, if nothing
ANEW’S ART DIRECTION direction has evolved as production has else, they look great on a
When planning the art direction for Anew, progressed. I originally envisioned the game to coffee table.
I established several goals: develop a unique, look like a living piece of concept art. Early art
personal art style; incorporate 2D and 3D assets reflected a flatter, rougher aesthetic, but
elements that aesthetically function well; use gradually, the direction changed and the fidelity,
modern lighting, post-processing, and visual depth, and dimensionality of the game world
effects techniques to add flair to a classic style/ (textures, lighting, animation, visual effects)
genre; encourage the player to explore the increased. I adjusted my approach to consistently
world through beautiful, mysterious visuals; and adhere to this new rule set, and redesigned
anchor all artistic design in a mix of surrealist many of the older, flatter assets created early in
and abstract impressionist art styles. By meeting development. Your initial art direction isn’t set in
these criteria, Anew would be unique in contrast stone, and later adjustments may happen as the
to other action-exploration platformers. game develops.
For research, I played various indie platformers As you think about your game’s art direction,
and Metroidvanias, studied some of my favourite I encourage you to conduct research, experiment,
 our game is set in Egypt.
Y
films, pored over modern art and photography and give its visual style the thought and


Which version can you afford

books, read biographies of Kubrick and Dalí, all consideration it needs. to build?

wfmag.cc \ 39
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Source Code

Source Code

Create a turn-based
combat system
Learn how to create the turn-based
combat system found in games like
AUTHOR
RIK CROSS Pokémon, Final Fantasy, and Undertale

I
n the late 1970s, high school whether a player is using their shield.
student Richard Garriott Players also have an inputmethod attribute,
made a little game called which is the function used for getting player
Akalabeth. Programmed in input for making various choices in the
Applesoft BASIC, it helped set game. This function is passed to the object
the template for the role-playing genre on when created, and means that we can have
computers. Even today, turn-based combat human players that give their input through
is still a common sight in games, with the keyboard, as well as computer players
this autumn’s Pokémon Sword and Shield that make choices (in our case simply by It may look crude, but Richard Garriott’s


revolving around a battle system which sees making a random choice between the Akalabeth laid the groundwork for Ultima, and
was one of the earliest CRPGs.
opponents take turns to plan and execute available options).
attacks or defensive moves. A base Action class specifies an action
The turn-based combat system in this owner and an opponent, as well as an its execute() method. A few time.sleep()
article is text-only, and works by allowing execute() method which has no effect on the commands have also been thrown in here
players to choose to defend against or attack game. Subclasses of the base class override to ramp up the suspense!
their opponent in turn. The battle ends when this execute() method to specify the effect After each player has had their turn, a
only one player has some health remaining. the action has on the owner and/or the check is done to make sure that at least two
Each Player taking part in the battle opponent of the action. As a basic example, players still have a health value greater than
is added to the static players list as it’s two actions have been created: Defend, which 0, and therefore that the battle can continue.
created. Players have a name, a health value sets the owner’s defending attribute to True, If so, the static get_next_player() method
(initially set to 100) and a Boolean defending and Attack, which sets the owner’s defending finds the next player still in the game to take
value (initially set to False) to indicate attribute to their turn in the
False, and lowers battle, otherwise,
“Even today, turn-based
the opponent’s the game ends
health by a
combat is still a common and the winner is
random amount sight in games” announced.
depending on Our example
whether or not they are defending. battle can be easily extended in lots of
Players take turns to choose a single interesting ways. The AI for choosing
action to perform in the battle, starting with an action could also be made more
the human ‘Hero’ player. The choose_action() sophisticated, by looking at opponents’
method is used to decide what to do next health or defending attributes before
(in this case either attack or defend), as well choosing an action. You could also give each
as an opponent if the player has chosen action a ‘cost’, and give players a number
to attack. A player can only be selected as of action ‘points’ per turn. Chosen actions
an opponent if they have a health value would be added to a list, until all of the
greater than 0, and are therefore still in the points have been used. These actions would
 ith their emphasis on trading and collecting as
W game. This choose_action() method returns then be executed one after the other, before


well as turn-based combat, the Pokémon games

helped bring RPG concepts to the masses. an Action, which is then executed using moving on to the next player’s turn.

40 / wfmag.cc
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Source Code

Download
Turn-based combat in Python the code
from GitHub:
wfmag.cc/
Here’s Rik’s code snippet, which creates a simple turn-based combat sequence in Python. To get it running on your wfmag28
system, you’ll first need to install Pygame Zero – you can find full instructions at wfmag.cc/pgzero

import random, time         action_choice = self.inputmethod([‘a’, ‘d’])
        if action_choice == ‘a’:
class Action():             print(‘Choose an opponent’)
    def __init__(self, owner, opponent):             # build up a list of possible opponents
        self.owner = owner             opponent_list = []
        self.opponent = opponent             for p in self.players:
                if p != self and p.health > 0:
    def execute(self):                     print(‘[{}] {}’.format(self.players.
        pass index(p), p.name))
                    opponent_list.append(str(self.players.
class Attack(Action): index(p)))
    def __init__(self, owner, opponent):             # use input to get the opponent of player’s action
        super().__init__(owner, opponent)             opponent = self.players[int(self.inputmethod(opponent_
list))]
    def execute(self):             return Attack(self, opponent)
        self.owner.defending = False         else:
        if self.opponent.defending:             return Defend(self, None)
            hit = random.randrange(10,20)
        else: def human_input(choices):
            hit = random.randrange(20,40)     choice = input()
        self.opponent.health -= hit     while choice not in choices:
        print(‘{} is hit! (-{})’.format(self.opponent.name, hit))         print(‘Try again!’)
        choice = input()
class Defend(Action):     return choice
    def __init__(self, owner, opponent):
        super().__init__(owner, opponent) def computer_input(choices):
    time.sleep(2)
    def execute(self):     choice = random.choice(choices)
        self.owner.defending = True     print(choice)
        print(self.owner.name, ‘is defending!’)     return choice

class Player(): # add 2 players to the battle, with their own input method
    players = [] hero = Player(‘The Hero’, human_input)
enemy = Player(‘The Enemy’, computer_input)
    def __init__(self, name, inputmethod):
        self.name = name # the hero has the first turn
        self.inputmethod = inputmethod current_player = Player.players[0]
        self.health = 100 playing = True
        self.defending = False
        self.players.append(self) # game loop
while playing:
    def __str__(self):
        description = “Player: {}\n{}\nHealth = {}\     # print all players with health remaining
nDefending = {}\n”.format(     for p in Player.players:
            self.name,         if p.health > 0:
            ‘-’ * (8 + len(self.name)),             print(p, end=’\n\n’)
            self.health,
            self.defending     # current player’s action executed
        )     action = current_player.choose_action()
        return(description)     time.sleep(2)
    action.execute()
    @classmethod
    def get_next_player(cls, p):     # continue only if more than 1 player with health remaining
        # get the next player still in the game     if len([p for p in Player.players if p.health > 0]) > 1:
        current_index = cls.players.index(p)         current_player = Player.get_next_player(current_player)
        current_index = (current_index + 1) % len(cls.players)         time.sleep(2)
        while cls.players[current_index].health < 1:     else:
            current_index = (current_index + 1) % len(cls.players)         playing = False
        return cls.players[current_index]
for p in Player.players:
    def choose_action(self):     if p.health > 0:
        print(self.name, ‘: [a]ttack or [d]efend?’)         print(‘**’, p.name, ‘wins!’)

wfmag.cc \ 41
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Directory

Directory

Yorkshire Games
Festival 2020
Bringing together the best of the northern
gaming scene in Bradford

The fourth annual (ignoring 2018) Yorkshire It’s a real Northern Powerhouse of an event
BASED IN Games Festival returns next year, with the and definitely worth the price of admission: £0.
event running from 5–9 February in Bradford. Yep, it’s free. If you want to attend the game
THE NORTH?
The event’s pitched at gamers and developers talks, which run Thursday 6 February and Friday
HAVE A alike, bringing events and activities, opportunities 7 February, tickets are priced at £40 for one day,
GAME TO for networking, and talks from a whole host of or £80 for two – concessions are available.
SHOW OFF? gaming professionals and experts in the field. “The next Yorkshire Games Festival is going
Speakers announced so far including Friend to [build] on that strong relationship we’re
The Yorkshire Games
Festival is looking for titles of Wireframe, Mike Bithell, whose recent release developing with the industry and bringing those
to demo at its Northern John Wick Hex is sure to be a captivating subject; voices to the next generation – a generation
Games Showcase, level designer Zi Peters from Sumo Digital; senior of creatives who can’t typically head to events
which aims to show off QA analyst at Team17, Chloe Crookes; and plenty elsewhere around the country,” says festival
the best the northern
gamedev scene has to
more developers, publishers, journalists, and director Kathryn Penny. “It’s a unique meeting of
offer. If you’d like to get other such expert voices. minds, making the next festival the best yet.”
your game involved, Away from the talks, there’ll be plenty of
email Jack.Weedon@ other attractions, from upcoming games to go More details can be found on Yorkshire
scienceandmediamuseum.
hands-on with – Team17 is giving Moving Out, Games Festival’s official site, along with the
org.uk.
its mix of Overcooked and… moving house, its ability to purchase tickets: wfmag.cc/YGF2020
first showing outside of London – through to
dedicated ‘meet the developer’ networking
sessions and career surgeries.

 Talks from industry

experts will enlighten
and entertain in equal
measure.

42 / wfmag.cc
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 Interface
The rise of the Redwall-esque

The rise of the

Redwall-esque
Fantasy, fur, and flashing blades: Jack explores the
WRITTEN BY
JACK YARWOOD
influence of the Redwall novels on games
oble mice and brave woodland borne out of the long, influential shadow that
creatures have become an Redwall has cast over a generation of creators,
increasingly common sight in or are fans simply exaggerating this connection
recent video games. We’ve seen based on their own relationship to the books?
epic tales of good versus evil, Andy Schatz is the lead designer of Tooth
such as Ghost of a Tale and Tails of Iron. We’ve and Tail, a real-time strategy game from
seen games that take place in historic or Pocketwatch Games. It features a cast of
fantastical settings, like Armello and Tooth and anthropomorphic animals warring over who
Tail. We’ve seen furry heroes rising from humble should become the food during a drastic
beginnings to overcome insurmountable shortage of supplies. It’s one of several projects
odds, as seen in Small Saga, announced in the that have attracted comparisons to the Redwall
summer of 2019. books; according to Schatz, however, it initially
It’s a growing trend that has led to frequent started out with a much more generic concept
comparisons with the work of Brian Jacques, in mind. “Redwall wasn’t the origin of the world
the British novelist responsible for the Redwall concept,” Schatz tells me. “When we first started
series, first published in the mid-1980s. But what on the game, we actually started with the
has led to this increase in prominence? Is it really mechanics. We were using spaceships at first.”

44 / wfmag.cc
 Interface
The rise of the Redwall-esque

Once Pocketwatch decided on the idea of Players in Armello can go


on quests to earn prestige
using animals as units, Schatz found himself and find other loot.
drawing on Redwall for inspiration, and so
he went back to the books for research.
“Redwall did immediately come to mind as a
touchstone,” Schatz says. “Especially when we
[thought], ‘We can make this feel like if you
took Redwall and set in an era with guns and
In Small Saga, Verm and his furry companions will brutal warfare.’ You know, a First World War-era


go up against a lot of challenging enemies,

including this rather nasty-looking household cat. Redwall. It’s a really compelling thought. So once
we settled in with what we were doing with the

A TAIL OF INSPIRATION
animals, the time frame, and the overall feeling REDWALL
Pocketwatch’s original goal was to create an
of it, it was really easy to latch onto Redwall as a
starting point.” ORIGINS
RTS for players who find the genre’s learning In spite of the books’ influence, the game’s The first Redwall book
curve a little too intimidating. From there, the world is not that similar to Redwall. Tooth was published in 1986 and
team began searching for a theme that would and Tail employs other creative influences focused on the inhabitants of
appeal to a broader audience – which is where to distinguish itself from Jacques’s work, Mossflower Woods, including a
young mouse named Matthias,
all those animals came in. borrowing from historical
as they fight back against
“The function part of it "Redwall did immediately figures and events to the army of the evil Cluny the
was really a fun aspect,” flesh out the world;
Schatz says. “One of the
come to mind as Teddy Roosevelt and
Scourge. The final book in the
series, The Rogue Crew, was
big problems of designing a touchstone" Rasputin, for example, released in 2011, and was
a real-time strategy inspired the characters of the 22nd Redwall novel to be
game is when you see a unit on-screen for the Bellafide and Archimedes respectively. released before Jacques’s
first time – you have no idea what it means Another important distinction is that death that same year.
from a strategic perspective. Like, ‘How would Tooth and Tail’s politics is more complex and
I counter that thing? What is it?’ Especially nuanced than the Redwall books, where the
in sci-fi themed stuff. So having everything creatures’ morality is usually black and white.
based on animals, where you already have an “The thematic underpinning of Tooth and Tail
idea of what the animals are and what their is that all politics is personal, in the sense that
strengths and weaknesses may be, was a really people’s political beliefs tend to be drawn from
compelling thing.” personal gain and personal empowerment,

wfmag.cc \ 45
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The rise of the Redwall-esque

OFFICIAL
more so than a belief in what’s right,” Schatz director at League of Geeks. “And with Blake
says. “So it was an interesting story where it having proposed an animal kingdom, we
TIE-INS seems like, ‘Well, this capitalist guy, he got
really screwed, so he’s going to rise up against
immediately saw the value in that decision.
I was excited by the opportunity presented
Redwall has recently
the bad guy.’ But then his actual reasoning for by the variety of animal shapes, sizes, and
had some official video
what he wants to replace their government characters. For instance, it’s nice to see a line-
games, too. These include
with is actually not great.” up and the scale differences of a rat to a bear,
The Lost Legends of
Redwall, a series of six which provide a great contrast and rhythm.”
episodic adventure games MAGIC & OTHER INFLUENCES
using the Redwall license. Armello is another game that shares similarities THE 'REDWALL' LOOK
It’s important to note, with Redwall. It’s a digital board game, where Armello and Tooth and Tail both feature
however, that only two of up to four players control a different animal the incredible artwork of Jerome Jacinto, a
these episodes have been clan and compete to storm the central castle to former Redwall fan artist turned professional
released to date – The Scout dethrone a corrupt king. The game operates on freelancer. He’s been involved with several
and Escape the Gloomer.
a turn-based system and functions much like a games that focus on the lives of animal
traditional board game, with card draws and dice characters, including 2018’s Ghost of a Tale, a 3D
rolls dictating the outcome of the player’s moves. adventure game about a small mouse named
For Armello developer League of Geeks, Tilo trapped inside a well-fortified prison.
the original idea of using anthropomorphic Jacinto first discovered the Redwall books quite
creatures came from studio co-founder Blake by accident many years ago, when walking into
Mizzi. Mizzi was a fan of the Redwall books, a bookstore and encountering Troy Howell’s
which contributed to his decision to propose cover art for Martin the Warrior.
a game based on an animal kingdom. The “I thought, ‘This is the most badass mouse I’ve
studio’s other co-founders were less familiar ever seen,’” Jacinto says. “I bought it out of my
with Redwall, but were eager to pursue Mizzi’s amazement for that cover art, and to see what it
vision for the game. was all about. Martin the Warrior, being my first
Players in Tooth and Tail “The founders were looking for something Redwall book, left the strong impression of the


choose one of four

flag-bearers, and can then to differentiate ourselves from other fantasy Redwall universe being very grounded, gritty, and
select from a group of units games,” says Ty Carey, co-founder and art unforgiving to any woodland creature not willing
to fill out their ranks.

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The rise of the Redwall-esque

TALESPIN
Ghost of a Tale is a game
from animation director and
game developer, Lionel Gallat
(SeithCG). As outlined in the
project’s original Indiegogo
campaign, Gallat was inspired
by The Dark Crystal, Disney’s
Robin Hood, The Secret of
 erome Jacinto has also worked
J NIMH, and Redwall while


on projects outside of gaming, making the game. The level
including this Redwall-inspired
guest story for the webcomic, design, meanwhile, was
Beyond the Western Deep. influenced by Dark Souls, with
one-way elevators and hidden
pathways connecting the
multiple different areas of
to fight for their own survival. It was a breeding appealing,” says Schatz. “It’s really expressive. the prison keep.
ground for character growth, and how these It’s dynamic. And he clearly understands how
characters develop over their stories is what to draw animals, which is a unique challenge.
appealed to me.” There’s a lot of really great artists who aren’t
Following that initial discovery, Jacinto has nearly as good at animals, because they
found himself in high demand in the games haven’t studied the anatomy of an animal.
industry for his work, which draws inspiration And every animal anatomy is going to be a
from official Redwall artists like Howell and little different from one another, so it is a
Russian illustrator, Anton Lomaev. The first unique skill set to have.”
studio to approach Jacinto Tooth and
was League of Geeks. Tail’s mature and
“We worked on the "I thought, 'This is the anatomically correct
card art over a couple of most badass mouse I've approach to portraying
years,” explains Carey, its creatures could be
ever seen'"
“and during that time what invites all those
had put our feelers comparisons to Redwall
out and kept a close eye on any artists who – even though, for Schatz, Jacques’s books don’t
understood how to draw anthropomorphised necessarily seem quite so mature when read
characters – which is far harder and with adult eyes. “I really do love Redwall,” he  uch like Odd Bug Studio’s
M


previous game, The Lost

specialised than it might seem. Most artists says, “but I went back and started re-reading it Bear, Tails of Iron will
contain a mixture of
aren’t drilled in the many differing animal when I was working on Tooth and Tail, I was like, natural and industrial
skeletal structures, for example, and you can’t ‘I don’t remember this being as young-adult environments to explore.
just use generic proportions if you want to
draw authentic animals. Jerome made some
incredible fan art of Armello, which he posted
to Twitter, and it was so good we couldn’t
let his talent go to waste. Jerome ended up
[creating] heaps of our cards. They’re all
through the game!”
Pocketwatch Games was another studio
that sought out Jacinto’s work. The real-
time strategy genre’s remote camera often
means it’s difficult to express the personality
of individual characters; to compensate,
the studio decided to use Jacinto’s detailed
portraits to give players more of an
attachment to their units. “I’m not sure I can
describe [why], but his work is immediately

wfmag.cc \ 47
 Interface
The rise of the Redwall-esque

 esigner Lionel Gallat’s movie

D


animation background really
showed in his debut game,
Ghost of a Tale.

as it is,’” Schatz says. “It was definitely written to tell meaningful stories on.”
for a young audience. But my memory of it was Daniel Robinson, character artist and
animals, swords, death, and political intrigue. animator at Odd Bug, explains further.
And all of that stuff feels like it’s aimed at an “Creatively, I chose to make the characters
Small Saga surpassed its £33,000 older audience, or is something that an older anthropomorphised, as the world of Tails of Iron


Kickstarter earlier this year, with audience would be interested in. It’s The Lord of is very brutal, and I felt that the main character,
2398 people backing the project
on the platform. the Rings and Game of Thrones.” Redgi, couldn’t be a cute rat on all fours.
Instead, he needed to be a rat who is strong
A GRIM FAIRY TALE in tone, and wields a sword and shield with
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Tails confidence. The human form supports [that],
of Iron, the upcoming 2D adventure RPG-lite and helps relate the player to him more.”
from Manchester-based studio, Odd Bug, has Despite Redwall’s minimal impact on the
attracted the same ‘Redwall-esque’ comparison game, the studio doesn’t seem to mind the
since its announcement. After all, it also fits continued comparisons, however, especially
into the ‘rodent with a sword sub-genre,’ and given the company they find themselves in.
features a particularly brutal depiction of the They do stress, though, that the world of Tails
lives of animals. of Iron is far more brutal and bloodier than
Tails of Iron focuses on Redgi the rat, a small players might expect.
rodent who must defend his kingdom against “I think Tails of Iron would be classed as the
an army of invading frogs. To do so, he must Grimms’ Fairy Tales version of Redwall,” says

RATS IN navigate a dangerous world and survive enemy Bennett. “The world of Tails of Iron is a lot

REALITY
encounters using all the tools available to him. darker and bleaker than most of these games.
For the team at Odd Bug, the Redwall link has Rats and frogs have been locked in combat
Odd Bug had another more been flattering to hear, but it isn’t something throughout the generations, which has had an
personal reason for making they’d necessarily intended. Instead, Kenneth impact on the world’s inhabitants and left it a
a game about a cute rat Grahame’s novel, The Wind in the Willows, and much more brutal place. I think the combat is
named Redgi. “Tails of Iron David Petersen’s comic series, Mouse Guard, [also] much more gruesome than what you’d
was created in honour of my were bigger inspirations. normally expect from a fairy-tale world. We’re
pet rats, who always kept me “I’m ashamed to say I’ve never read the going to be showing decapitations and bellies
motivated during hard times,” Redwall books,” admits Jack Bennett, co- sliced open. There’s going to be a lot of blood.”
explains Daniel Robinson. “All
founder and game designer at Odd Bug Studio. “Obviously, being referred to as ‘Redwall-
the main rats in Tails of Iron
“However, as an adult, I have watched the esque’ in the first place is awesome,” he
are real, and Redgi the rat was
animated series. And that’s not to say I wasn’t elaborates, “but I think people referring to
very brave. The main story of
Tails of Iron is about banding aware of the Redwall universe as a child. I think Tails of Iron [as such] means they recognise the
together and never giving up, that the imagery of small creatures living in a surface-based similarities. They see that the
[which] reflects our team at ‘civilised’ world is something that is really easy world is populated by small, ‘civilised’ mammals
Odd Bug Studio.” to connect with, which makes it a good ‘canvas’ and that it’s set in a medieval-ish time period.

48 / wfmag.cc
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The rise of the Redwall-esque

 Players will have one normal objective to

complete in Tooth and Tail, alongside an
additional heroic target that requires more work.

At first glance, I’d agree that it does describe

Tails of Iron, but I think when people get to play
the game, they will recognise that it’s a different
world with a very different tone. I don’t know
how long Martin the Warrior would last in the
world of Tails of Iron.”

A CITY OF MICE
Like Tails of Iron, Small Saga, the upcoming RPG
game from indie developer, Jeremy Noghani,
feels like another case where the Redwall
connection may have been overstated. Similar to
Odd Bug, Noghani was aware of Redwall growing
up, but it was actually a much wider range of
influences that helped him arrive at the idea of
creating a game about civilised mice. they’re contributing to a much longer-running
“The game’s biggest influence is probably tradition in art that predates the publication of
Kentaro Miura’s Berserk, a manga that’s also Redwall. So why is Redwall so commonly cited as
about a vengeful, cape-clad swordsman trying to a reference point? According to Schatz, it’s due to
fight impossible deities,” Noghani says. “You can the expectation it provokes. Unlike Disney or the
see that influence on Verm’s character design. work of American animator, Don Bluth, Redwall
Robin Jarvis’s The Deptford Mice is another still seems to appeal to a more grown-up and
children’s fantasy-rodent mature audience, sitting
book series that no "I think Tails of Iron comfortably alongside
doubt had an influence, other, more adult-
would be classed as the
especially with regards orientated fantasy works
to the London sewer Grimms’ Fairy Tales version by J.R.R. Tolkien and
setting and gritty tone. of Redwall" George R.R. Martin.
For games, Final Fantasy “I think Redwall is
IX and Golden Sun would be the two most probably gaining more and more [attention],”
notable inspirations, both for their gameplay Schatz tells me. “I suspect it’s having a little
and art direction.” bit of a resurgence in public awareness,
Unlike the other games that the ‘Redwall- because like I said, it’s the only type of
esque’ tag has been applied to, Small Saga has a anthropomorphism that really appeals to
modern-day setting, taking place in a medieval- a more broader, grown-up audience. So I  ussian mystic Grigori
R


Rasputin inspired the character

style kingdom known as Rodentia located suspect that we’ll see a lot more people finding design of Archimedes in Tooth
beneath London. For Noghani, the modern-day that comparison apropos.” and Tail, one of the game’s
flag-bearers.
setting provided the chance to have fun with
the contrast in size between the human and
rodent world. Mice wield objects like lighters
and penknives as weapons, and wear tiny
thimbles to protect themselves against terrors
such as towering domestic cats.
“I think a contemporary setting provides a
sense of plausibility,” explains Noghani. “We
know the story’s fiction, but by including real
places and objects, the world feels tangible. It
also provides a better opportunity to incorporate
social commentary; humans have a huge impact
on the animal world, so why not depict that?”
Redwall has clearly been an influence on
many of these games, but from speaking to
the developers behind them, it becomes clear

wfmag.cc \ 49
 Interface
System Profile / Sony PlayStation

System Profile

Sony PlayStation
Happy 25th birthday to the one that changed it all

I
It’s been a quarter of a century
since plucky upstart Sony
brought a console to market in
one of the most successful acts
of corporate revenge ever seen.
535 million gaming devices sold later, you
do wonder if maybe Nintendo second-
guessed itself at all. By now, we all know
the story: Nintendo brought Sony in to
create a CD-ROM-based add-on for its own
SNES, the Big N broke the contract, Sony
brass was infuriated, the SNES-CD became
the Sony PlayStation, and quite frankly the
entire landscape changed forever.
You probably wouldn’t have thought least not if you were a consumer. If you
that on 3 December 1994, though – when worked behind the scenes at Sony or
the PSone launched in Japan. There any number of development studios,
was a hell of a lot of hype around Sony’s there – Sega’s own Saturn had hit it was clear to see this was an actual
machine, sure, and the company’s ability shortly before Sony’s machine – the new kid on the block. Rather than the
to wrangle positive press coverage as well 3DO, Commodore’s CD32, even the ingrained practices of the Segas and
as advertise effectively and impactfully TurboGrafx-16 had a CD add-on in the Nintendos of the world, Sony brought
put it in good stead. But this was Sony – late 1980s. So not that. 3D graphics? a fresh approach to many aspects of
games consoles were made by Nintendo Arguably they hadn’t run as well as this on development and developer relations.
and Sega, sometimes even Atari. Not Sony. a home console before, but they weren’t The attitude from day one was one
Sony made camcorders, the Walkman, and anything new per se. The controller? Don’t of openness and collaboration; Sony
Trinitron televisions. A quarter of a century be silly. The here and now teaches us a couldn’t make games by itself, and it
is a long time to change your mind on lesson on how things turned out, but 25 knew this, so it was vital to make strong,
things, that’s for sure. years ago – on paper – the PlayStation lasting partnerships with established dev
What did the PlayStation do differently? wasn’t doing anything that outlandish studios, and maybe to bring the odd one
CD-based consoles were already out to warrant its now legendary status, at here and there into the fold.
It also proved a massive boon to
the dev side of things that Sony used
a relatively inexpensive devkit solution
for the PlayStation. Initially, the PSX
devkit was planned to only work with
R4000-based machines – one of the
earliest 64-bit processors and a very
expensive piece of kit. Plans changed,
however, thanks to the involvement of
Ropey it may look now,
Psygnosis and collaborator SN Systems,


Doom’s PSone port is but Gran Turismo was a



still a standout version. revelation in 1997. the latter of which created software

50 / wfmag.cc
 Interface
Sony PlayStation \ System Profile

Solid Snake’s sneaking


seriously surprised some.

Meanwhile…
It’s easy to get lost in the timelines of the
past – 25 years is a long time ago, after all
– so it’s of little surprise that people forget
there was another console launch in Japan
on the same day as the PlayStation: Sega’s
32X, the ill-fated add-on for the Mega
Drive. Hindsight being powerful a tool, it’s
easy to see why this stop-gap solution to
extending the Mega Drive’s lifespan failed
as spectacularly as it did. See, not only
was it out the same day as the PSone, but
Sega’s own next-gen console, the Saturn,
had already been out for a couple of weeks
in Japan. What a lark.

“To those behind the to how a platform holder treated

scenes at Sony or dev developers, it couldn’t really have gone
any other way.
studios, this was clearly A quarter century on, and the
a new kid on the block” reverberations from Sony’s corporate
revenge are still being felt. And it’s
that would eventually be used on probably going to be at least a few quarter
two PC-compatible hardware cards. centuries more before we see a story even
The PSX could now be developed for in vaguely similar play out again in the world
conjunction with any PC using the cards, of video games. The PlayStation really was
meaning the bar for entry took a quick, a once in a lifetime event.
and very welcome, nosedive.
All of this led to the PlayStation we
know and love; the chunky grey box of
dinosaur demos, Metal Gear Solid, and
ISS Pro Evolution. There’s no denying the
marketing helped – oftentimes it helped
a lot, and did indeed (even if it is an oft-
repeated snippet) ‘make gaming cool’.
Without quality games backing it
all up, however, the machine could
have just been another forgotten dud,
like so very many other machines of
the eighties and nineties. But with
good marketing backed by good
Tomb Raider, so closely associated
games, brought to life through great


with the PlayStation, actually

relationships and a refreshed approach released first on Sega’s Saturn.

wfmag.cc \ 51
 Interface
System Profile / Sony PlayStation

Platinum efforts
10 overlooked PSone gems
Because not every list can have Tekken 3 in it

01 02 03

Threads of Fate Incredible Crisis Harmful Park

1999 1999 1997
The problem with Square’s output on the Reasonably described as ‘wacky’, Incredible You may have seen this game’s cover and
PSone is that Final Fantasy existed, so its other Crisis sees your everyday Japanese family laughed (a pancake on a plate with ‘pure
RPGs tended to be overlooked. Threads of engage in some minigame action on their shooting’ written on it), but the game hiding
Fate definitely fell into that category; a solid, way to buy presents for grandma. Think behind the comical cover is… actually great.
entertaining romp that allows you to play as proto-WarioWare and you’re on the right track. We’re not talking high-level arcade shoot-’em-up
two distinct characters, Koji Sugimoto’s lone Somewhat fittingly, Incredible Crisis’s developer here, but Harmful Park is a well-designed and
directorial effort is a solid, well-made JRPG Polygon Magic now (in part) operates as a – importantly – fun shooter featuring gorgeous
that’s still worth a go today. production company for stage and screen. sprites and some genuinely funny design choices.

04 05 06
Tobal No. 1 Silent Bomber Rogue Trip: Vacation
1996 1999 2012
If Tekken hadn’t existed, the Tobal series Pure arcade fun, Silent Bomber made the 1998
would have been the format’s go-to fighting inspired decision to take a top-down shooter As Twisted Metal went off to be hobbled by 989
game franchise. DreamFactory’s brawler saw and cross-pollinate it with Bomberman. Studios, series creator SingleTrac stuck with the
a bunch of characters – designed by Dragon The result is a game where you have to drop theme – vehicular combat and dark humour –
Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama – freely running your bombs around enemies (or throw them), and took it in a different direction. The combat
around their 3D arenas in an effort to… well, it’s before detonating. Simple? Yep. Engrossing, fun, here is framed around providing a taxi service,
a fighting game, so to batter each other. A smart and with a large enough pinch of tactical depth? with players picking up passengers while
game of surprising depth, its sequel upped the Absolutely. It’s criminal this one never got the shooting their competitors – foreshadowing the
ante nicely, and both are worth a look. sequel it deserved. upcoming Uber/black cab wars of 2021.

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 Interface
Sony PlayStation \ System Profile

07

Hogs of War
2000
Rik Mayall. What do you mean we need more
words? Sigh. OK, Hogs of War riffed on the
Worms template – random creatures having
a barney in some solid multiplayer sessions.
The pigs managed to make the 3D world work for
them in a way the annelids never could, and this
is still fantastic fun. It also had Rik Mayall in it,
and that means it deserves to be played by all.

08 09 10

World’s Scariest Star Ocean: The Omega Boost

Police Chases Second Story 1999
2001 1998 Polyphony Digital famously broke off from
Overlooked because it came out when the Another title that fell by the wayside thanks to making games about cars to make a game
PSone was dying off, as well as because it was Final Fantasy ’s PSone dominance, Star Ocean: about motorbikes on PS2, but even earlier than
based on a low-rent TV show, World’s Scariest The Second Story was a deep, detailed, and that, it had gone further down the less obvious
Police Chases was actually a fine spiritual sometimes innovative JRPG that deserved route and made a (beautiful) game about giant
successor to Chase H.Q. Straight-up police a bit more kudos than it received. The years stompy robots with guns up the wazoo. Omega
chases acted as your entire motivation, and a since have been kinder, but even then it tends Boost was a fine rail shooter and belongs on
mix of arcade-style handling and ever-increasing to be the SNES original that gets the props. anyone’s list of must-play PSone games, even
challenge made this one surprisingly good. #GiveTheSecondStoryAChance. without the Gran Turismo team behind it.

wfmag.cc \ 53
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 Rated
Review

Review
 he murder you’re
T


tasked with

Disco Elysium
investigating appears
tied up in a labour
dispute that’s brought
traffic to a standstill.

GENRE Disco is the future, can you dig it?

Info

RPG

T
FORMAT
PC (tested)
o call Disco Elysium an RPG having an affinity for grandiose proclamations
DEVELOPER
murder-mystery wouldn’t be about the universe and paranormal connections.
ZA/UM
incorrect, but it would somewhat Logic determines your detective’s ability to spot
PUBLISHER
ZA/UM
undersell the breadth of what’s inconsistencies and, as you might expect, is cold,
going on in a game where the detached, and a little arrogant.
PRICE
£34 player character’s brain gets into arguments with The way you balance these skills has a huge
RELEASE
itself, the skills you’ve selected have the potential impact on the way you experience the game.
Out now to send him into revelatory pseudo-mystical Skill checks mean you will inevitably have
reverie, and his tie periodically implores him to to follow different paths to pry information
grab a drink and get messed up. from other characters, or access new areas,
The game opens with your protagonist depending on where you’ve invested your points.
awakening in a trashed hostel room after a The dialogue you see will be different depending
multi-day bender, with no memory of who he is on whether you’ve built an empathetic detective
REVIEWED BY or what’s led him to this low point. You quickly sensitive to picking up on people’s feelings, or a
Paul Walker-Emig
discover that you’re a detective (albeit a rather brute who prefers to intimidate, with the voices
unconventional one) and that, out the back, of those corresponding skills coming to the fore
there’s a body hanging from a tree. Your job is to of your detective’s mind, while the proclivities
find out who killed them. You’ll probably want to of the skills you’ve neglected tend to stay
find out who you are along the way, too. hidden beneath the surface. How this myriad of
Defining how you go about solving these potential voices has been woven into something
mysteries are your skills. Having skills in an that’s not only coherent, but unfailingly
RPG is as established as butter on bread, but compelling, I can’t begin to imagine.
the way these skills have been implemented, This gives the game a huge degree of
well, that’s something else. The function of variability. Whether it’s the skills you invest in,
each skill in Disco Elysium is complemented by the conversation options you choose, the drugs
a de facto character whose voice will become you do or don’t consume, or the side quests you
more prominent in your detective’s mind as complete, the possibilities feel unfathomably
you sink more points into them. Inland Empire huge, and your choices will matter. This works
can roughly be described as intuition, informing to the game’s benefit, but there are plenty of
your character when it picks up on a bad other games that respond well to player choice.
 his eclectic collection of
T feeling or prompting you to follow a particular That alone is not what makes this game


skills is the most interesting

and original I’ve ever seen
conversation topic or route on the basis of a special. Choices here are more than keys with
in an RPG. hunch. When it speaks, it sounds like a mystic, the potential to open or close quest lines;

56 / wfmag.cc
 Rated
Review

 artinaise has effectively

M


been abandoned by the
city of Revachol, which
means your presence as
a police detective often
they radically change the texture of the game. isn’t very welcome.
Just walking through the city can be dramatically
different, depending on what you’ve upgraded.
I began pumping points into ‘perception’ – Tonally, Disco Elysium is difficult to talk about,
having the effect of your detective spotting given the many permutations that define
more stuff around him – and ‘shivers’ – which how you experience it. Deliberately surreal HIGHLIGHT
helps you to “hear the city” – about halfway and irreverent in its early stages, the game Supplementing Disco
through the game. Suddenly, the simple act of encourages you to embrace the unusual: “You’re Elysium’s skill system is ‘the
walking from one place to another felt more playing an oddball, it’s OK to pick the weird thought cabinet’. Thoughts
unlocked during conversation
contemplative, and the city’s previously hidden dialogue options,” it seems to say. There are
can be slotted into your
secrets were revealed to me: impressionistic opportunities to continue in that vein, tilting detective’s brain for him to
thoughts gave the place context, while ghosts of the game towards being a kind of dark comedy, ruminate on, sometimes
past traumas drifted into my detective’s mind. but Disco Elysium also gradually reveals another at the expense of a stat
Choices in Disco Elysium aren’t just an side, as a washed-up, alcoholic protagonist with debuff. After he’s finished
contemplating it, you’ll usually
expression of player agency. They’re used to a propensity for failure – who might initially be
get some kind of bonus.
make you ruminate on how different thoughts, interpreted as a punchline – becomes a more
ideas, or modes of engaging with the world complex, or even sympathetic, figure. This move
can both reveal and happens often. Characters
distort it. Early on, you “Disco Elysium ’s that, at first glance, might
can ask a lorry driver what influence will be all appear to be broad stroke
he’s carrying in his van. archetypes gain an extra
In response, he’ll make
over the games that dimension, as the game
what is clearly a joke about follow in its wake. starts to situate them in
how his lorry is full of illegal It really is that good” the context of its location’s
contraband. Your Authority history: the neglected
skill jumps into action, insisting that you arrest district of Martinaise. The game harbours
this criminal immediately. This is a warning from a deeply cynical view of politics in its early
the game that you can’t always trust what your stages, but later supplements its critique with
skills tell you; it’s an amusing misunderstanding, a solidarity for the downtrodden that suggests
and a comment on the paranoid mindset of some kind of hope for change. That the game is VERDICT
those that wield power. able to hold so much in tension – to be earnest, Offbeat, original, smart,
This is far from the only instance of your cynical, silly, contemplative, angry, sentimental, and intricate, Disco Elysium
usually helpful skills muddying the waters – they provocative, and more – speaks to just how rich starts strong and grows in
will later start having disagreements about how and sophisticated it is. your estimation by the hour.
you should handle situations, another example I’ve never played a game quite like Disco
of what could have been a bog-standard
RPG skill system being taken in all kinds of
innovative directions.
Elysium, but I suspect I will again in the future,
because its influence will be all over the games
that follow in its wake. It really is that good.
94%
wfmag.cc \ 57
 Rated
Review

HIGHLIGHT
Deliver Us The Moon might
evoke mystery most of the
time, but certain countdown
sequences ratchet up the
tension and spectacle by
testing out your reaction
times. One bombastic set-
piece midway through sees
you blown out into space,
grabbing several O2 canisters
as you fight to get back.
 hings often dip into a
T


first-person viewpoint during

important moments.

Review  olving puzzles isn’t quite as

S


hand-holdy as you might be used to.

Deliver Us The Moon

One giant leap of a thoughtful space adventure

W
hile most Kickstarted games have explorathon dabbling with some deep themes –
a habit of shooting for the moon, and most never outstay their welcome.
KeokeN Interactive’s bold thriller Now, of course, setting your game primarily on
GENRE
Info

has interpreted the concept quite the moon runs the risk of having environments
Sci-fi thriller,
action-adventure literally. Set in the year 2059, feel repetitive, but thankfully KeokeN Interactive
FORMAT at a time when fossil fuels have completely run has done a good job ensuring that this isn’t the
PC (tested) dry, Deliver Us The Moon casts you as a humble case. Whether it’s the believably lived-in crew
DEVELOPER astronaut tasked with saving a dust-ridden Earth quarters featuring the sprawled out personal
KeokeN suddenly deprived of its sole energy resource. belongings of staff, the Helium-3 mining facilities,
Interactive What follows is a thoughtful and wonderfully or the cratered surface of the moon itself, there’s
PUBLISHER ponderous third-person adventure, heavily a decent amount of visual variety offered, always
Wired inspired by numerous classic hard sci-fi works but backed up by a musical score that moves between
Productions
still boasting a human story of its own. haunting and hopeful. These ideas might have
PRICE
Completing your ambitious mission revolves been explored countless times in books and
£19.99
around investigating what’s happened to a unique film, but here the thought of being alone in the
RELEASE
Out now lunar-based gizmo known as the MPT, which up vastness of space is just as elegantly handled.
until five years ago did a good job at transmitting Sadly, no moon is without its fair share of
to Earth the hefty amounts of Helium-3 needed cheese, and it’s in the latter half of the game
before eventually going dark. Such a premise where the story suddenly takes a huge bite,
REVIEWED BY proves delectably intriguing for the four- or five- swiftly taking a turn into trope town. You see
Aaron Potter hour journey ahead, always being a great excuse (and avoiding spoilers), while well-paced and
to undertake Deliver Us The Moon’s healthy mix of wildly atmospheric for the most part, Deliver Us
exploration, item scanning, and puzzle-solving. The Moon’s answer for why the MPT transmitter
Helping you do this is a suite of useful tools fell offline wasn’t as inventive as I had hoped.
VERDICT no astronaut should be without. Your plasma However, while the journey may have been better
A strong story and sense cutter, for example, allows you to slice open than the destination, it did nothing to dampen my
of place renders this boxes containing vital oxygen within areas of the enjoyment of the game’s mysterious early hours.
melancholic sci-fi thriller space station and moon base that are lacking Despite this bumpy landing, Deliver Us The
a worthwhile journey.
life support, while a floating orb-like device called Moon serves as a nice trip to the stars that is
the ‘ASE’ can be controlled remotely and is small unafraid to tackle some of the sci-fi genre’s most

76% enough to access tight spaces. Clever mechanics

such as these are what really elevates Deliver
Us The Moon into much more than just a simple
gripping themes. The puzzle-solving is satisfying,
but it’s everything else that kept me inspired from
beginning to end.

58 / wfmag.cc
 Rated
Review

HIGHLIGHT
It was always going to be the
dancing, wasn’t it? It’s not
something you control, nor
does it have any real bearing
on the actual What You Do
bits of the game, but Felix’s
hops, skips, and prances
around each level make it
a minor joy just to navigate
as you’re crunching the
numbers on how the hell to
solve this latest conundrum.

Review
 echanics increase in
M


complexity as you go along,

Felix the Reaper

but follow the same general
path: get something from
A to B, and don’t leave the
shadows.

Just want to dance your life away

T
his is the first game in a long the shadows, unable to operate in the sunlight,
time – at least that I can think of so your path has to be planned according to
GENRE

Info
– where the term ‘fox-trot’ can be the shade.
Puzzle
used when talking about it, and You’re able to rotate the sun through set
FORMAT
you’re not shooting endless waves positions, which changes your shadow paths
PC (tested) / PS4 /
of foreigners for a definitely apolitical reason. available, and objects can be lifted and placed XBO / Mac
Felix the Reaper, see, is a puzzle game about around levels to create new, temporary shade DEVELOPER
an employee at the Ministry of Death – Grim for extra paths to get through things. Shady Kong Orange
Reapers, Inc., basically – who also happens to love pathfinding, then, but in a good way. And that’s PUBLISHER
dancing. Isn’t that just lovely? Well, yes and no – about it for what you actually do, but of course – Daedalic
yes, in that it’s lovely, and an imaginative, cute, and as with any good puzzle – it’s all about how these Entertainment
funky shell with which to wrap around a fiendish, simple mechanics come together that really taxes PRICE
taxing game of moving objects and light. No, in your grey matter. £21.99

that Felix the Reaper, while darkly comical, really Spatial awareness is one of those things RELEASE
Out now
does hammer home that ‘dark’ aspect at times – that’s hard for me. I can do it, eventually, but it
you’re an agent of death, quite involves some real strain in
literally, and your job means you the old noggin to build up
don’t just encounter it regularly;
“Each earlier step a head of steam. And Felix
you make sure it happens. in the puzzle works the Reaper does a number
Each puzzle acts as a step together to form on your spatial awareness REVIEWED BY
towards the death of a specified – even when you’re able to Ian Dransfield
one gigantic tragic
target. You’re not free to choose see in advance what moving
– they have been marked for the inevitability” the light will do to your
afterlife, and it’s your job to figure shadows, it still keeps you
out how to get them there from the diorama-like thinking, confuses and confounds, and brings
level you enter into. An early step might involve sweet relief when eventually, finally, you brute
getting the target drunk, say, or moving a bucket force your way through.
of oil into the position it needs to be to cause It’s not full of a-ha moments like The Witness, VERDICT
the most havoc. The final step, though, is always say, and there are times when mechanics being Frustration and frivolity
death: each earlier step working together to form explained beforehand would have been useful in equal measure, Felix
one gigantic tragic inevitability. It’s a smart way of (hello, stacking!). But generally speaking, Felix is a top puzzler.
tying things together, and works well in driving you the Reaper is a smart little distraction, and one
forward from one puzzle to the next.
Said puzzles require you to – usually – get an
item from one place to another. Felix is stuck in
with incredible presentation – and a wicked
sense of humour – throughout. Good stuff that
(dead) man.
77%
wfmag.cc \ 59
 Rated
Review

Review

GENRE
The Outer Worlds
Info

Action RPG
FORMAT Planet-hopping has never been quite so verbose
PS4 (tested) /

T
XBOX / PC
DEVELOPER he Outer Worlds’ conclusion isn’t chauffeur, killing him in an instant. This style
Obsidian exactly out of this world. Just when of gallows humour permeates throughout the
Entertainment it feels as though the final act is rest of the story, adding some genuine levity to
PUBLISHER about to step into high gear and a game about corporate control and cult-like
Private Division propel you towards an exciting obedience of the masses.
PRICE finale, you’re left staring at the end credits, Thawed from a 70-year rest, your goal is to
£49.99
hoping Microsoft greenlights a sequel. rescue the thousands of other colonists left
RELEASE
This hope is borne from the fact that a abandoned in permanent cryosleep by mega-
Out now
deflating ending is one of the rare missteps The corporation The Board. How you get there,
Outer Worlds makes across its 25-hour playtime. and whether you actually go through with it, is
Developer Obsidian Entertainment has long entirely up to the choices you make.
REVIEWED BY been famed for its high-quality storytelling, and There’s no binary morality system at play here,
Richard Wakeling The Outer Worlds is no exception. It takes the coating The Outer Worlds’ branching narrative
familiar structure of Bethesda’s Fallout games – in myriad shades of grey. As such, the choices
or, more specifically, Obsidian’s own Fallout: New it presents are incredibly tough to make, with
Vegas – and tightens up those first-person RPG no easy way to gauge what’s right or wrong – if
HIGHLIGHT trappings with a focused and pulpy 1940s-style such constructs even exist. You might have your
sci-fi adventure. heart set on choosing one faction over another
As is often the case in RPGs
driven by player choice, it’s Your introduction to The Outer Worlds begins until one of your companions chimes in with
immensely satisfying when when the escape pod you’re strapped into lands their own fully formed opinion. Maybe you’ll
you can circumvent combat on top of the guy who was supposed to be your discover a crucial piece of information on a
in The Outer Worlds. A room
full of marauders is no bother
when your engineering skill is  ach companion you recruit on your travels has a
E


high enough to shut off their unique special attack that adds some much-needed
flow of oxygen, killing eight panache to combat encounters.
enemies in one fell swoop.

 he dining area on your

T


ship, The Unreliable, is a

common mingling space
for the crew, although not
everyone gets along.

60 / wfmag.cc
 Rated
Review

 nvironments aren’t particularly

E


large, but they make up for this

by being densely packed and
full of character.

hacked computer log, or learn something new Byzantium, on the

by using your acts of persuasion. All of this other hand, is a Tory
stems from the quality of Obsidian’s writing, with dystopia full of affluent
a compelling cast of multi-faceted characters citizens and people with
that make each conversation, and the dialogue names like Hortense
options you choose from, rewarding in and Ingalsbee, who think  he town of Edgewater is
T


your first pit stop when
of themselves. they’re better than everyone else because they exploring the Halcyon
System, and offers a stark
Some of The Outer Worlds’ most memorable inherited their vast fortune from a grandparent. introduction to the way
characters emerge from the crew of misfits It’s just disappointing that there’s no real corporations operate.
you assemble over the course of your planet- incentive to explore the dangerous wilderness
hopping escapades. From the naive, asexual outside of these singular towns and cities,
engineer Parvati – who needs your help unless you want to find more ammunition.
opening up to a love interest – to the blunt but The Outer Worlds also stumbles somewhat
surprising Vicar Max, and no-nonsense medic when it comes to combat. Your character build
Ellie. They each have their will have an effect on your
own abilities in combat, but proficiency in any firefight,
“Almost everyone in
choosing which companions and it’s entirely possible to
you want to take out into the Halcyon System navigate your way around
the field is as much about has a story to tell” certain combat encounters by
spending time with them than sneaking, hacking, lock picking,
it is anything else. Each one has a loyalty mission or using the power of speech. When you are
of sorts, too, gradually building camaraderie confronted with a gunfight, combat is relatively
that harkens back to the best moments of Mass undemanding. There’s a decent selection of
Effect 2. firearms, and each one packs a meaty punch, but
Of course, a significant chunk of their appeal the AI isn’t dynamic enough to inject combat with
derives from their standing in this world, and it’s a palpable sense of excitement.
here where character development and world- The only tactical consideration you have to
building beautifully coalesce. Almost everyone make involves different ammo types dealing
in the Halcyon System has a story to tell about more damage against particular enemies.
corporate mistreatment or mismanagement, You can also activate Tactical Time Dilation,
shining a satirical light on capitalism and ugly essentially meaning you can slow down time for
consumer culture. Most of their tales are a few seconds. It has neither the same strategic
humorous in their absurdity without being value nor sense of violent impact as the Fallout
implausible enough to escape parallels with series’ V.A.T.S system.
some real-world examples of greed and cruelty. Fortunately, you spend much more of your
The game’s environments manage similar feats. time running your mouth than you do pulling VERDICT
There’s the town of Fallbrook that’s partly built your trigger finger. The Outer Worlds plays to A pulpy sci-fi romp
inside a craggy cave. The mega-corporations Obsidian’s strengths, focusing on depth and a and the quintessential
haven’t got their fingers in this particular pie; story where player choice actually matters. It Obsidian RPG.
light bulbs hang from wires stretching across is inherently familiar, but this almost doesn’t
the street, and the soundtrack’s western guitar
twang establishes its outlaw tone, with an Old
West-style tavern sitting in the centre of town.
matter when it picks up the ball Bethesda
dropped and runs with it, presenting a
compelling and immersive RPG.
84%
wfmag.cc \ 61
 Rated
Review

HIGHLIGHT
The game perfectly captures the
otherworldly tone of Lovecraftian
fiction, and there’s something really
special about feeling like you’re
one of the many characters that
populate the Mythos world. It’s a
living, breathing, horrible place.

Review

Stygian: Reign
 here are truly bizarre
T
of the Old Ones


things hiding behind

the doors of Arkham. Cthulhu looks downright wholesome compared to this

T
here’s nothing more terrifying
than being transported to a new
dimension ruled by heartless
GENRE
Info

gods and the ghoulish cultists

RPG
that worship them, so we can
FORMAT
probably say that, at least on a conceptual level,
PC (tested)
Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones is a scary game.
DEVELOPER
Cultic Games Borrowing liberally from the fiction of H.P.
Lovecraft, Stygian casts the player as one of the
PUBLISHER
1C Entertainment survivors of a strange planar shift that has left
The game’s story is told through dialogue, scripting,
the town of Arkham and its surrounding area


PRICE and storybook interludes.

£23.99 in a place between worlds. Your character can
RELEASE pursue a number of early 20th century careers, that were much more abundant through the bulk
Out now including actor, criminal, or investigator, each with of the game than I thought they would be during
their own set of skills and abilities. Like the classic character creation.
Fallout, Stygian’s character creation lets you make With that in mind, what should draw you
whatever weirdo you want and throw them into a to Stygian is the world itself. It draws heavily
dark and hostile world. on Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, with Arkham’s
REVIEWED BY Stygian doesn’t hold back on the darkness locations populated by characters who expand
Cameron Kunzelman and hostility, either. Roaming on the fictional universe.
Arkham, you’ll find bankers “It draws heavily They’ll speak at length about
driven to madness and those mafiosos or the traumas
horrible mafiosos and cultists
on Lovecraft’s plaguing the city. They’ll tell you
who yearn for even-more- Cthulhu Mythos” where you can find dastardly
awful transformations, and horrors, or they might prompt
you interact with them both through traditional you to learn more about some familiar names
VERDICT RPG dialogue options and a somewhat clunky from Lovecraft’s canon, such as Randolph Carter.
A compelling story in tactical combat system. This dense referentiality is fun for fans of
a well-worn framework, While those conversations tend to be as the weird fiction genre, and there’s very little in
held back by clunky absorbing here as they are in any other RPG, the the game that won’t offer a bit of fun familiarity
combat design.
combat system is not. Every time I had to make for those into classic, story-heavy RPGs.
my way through the turn-based deadly combat, What a shame, then, that the combat system

63% I let out an audible groan. It’s slow, awkward, and I

really felt like I was being punished for specialising
in melee weapons as opposed to the handguns
is so unbalanced that it drags the game down
significantly. I wish there was a good Lovecraftian
metaphor to summon up here.

62 / wfmag.cc
 Rated
Review

HIGHLIGHT
While the writing itself is
fairly standard fantasy
fare, Ed Kelly’s exceptional
voiceover work elevates
the text and imbues those
tired generic tropes with
emotional resonance.
Outside of Supergiant
Games’ groundbreaking
output, rarely has a narrator
managed to generate such
restrained yet genuine pathos
with their performance.

Review

Children of Morta
 rare moment of peace:
A


gazing at the distant
mountains, still untouched
by the Corruption.

Come for the carnage, stay for the mountain views

A
s much as rogue-lite sensibilities waged against your patience, rather than a test
have permeated the medium of skill. Persevere, however, and each character
GENRE

Info
this past decade, even spreading blossoms into a distinct and engaging fighter with
Action RPG /
to genres they had no business an array of abilities that transform skirmishes Roguelike
approaching (looking at you, into exciting real-time puzzles. Typical sword-and-
FORMAT
Bloodborne Chalice Dungeons), there’s one thing sorcery templates abound in the Bergson family PC (tested) / Mac /
this eminently versatile approach to game design roster: Kevin, the stealthy, rapidly striking assassin; PS4 / XBO / Switch
has never managed – or cared – to deliver: a Joey the hulking blacksmith that can withstand DEVELOPER
traditional narrative, the type that comes with a massive amounts of damage; and young Lucy, Dead Mage
beginning, a middle, and an end. Dead Mage’s the fireball-hurling elementalist whose attacks PUBLISHER
latest action RPG addresses the issue by inserting become increasingly vicious the longer she 11 bit studios
story fragments randomly across playthroughs. stands still. Gradually, the game’s secret rhythm PRICE
These take the form of hidden journal entries, reveals itself, a mesmerising oscillation between £18.49

encounters with far-reaching consequences, methodical scavenging and bursts of sudden RELEASE
Out now
and short interludes triggered after certain chaos demanding full awareness of your chosen
conditions have been met. A simple solution, only champion’s strengths and weaknesses.
made possible because, unlike others of its ilk, Surprisingly, it’s neither the tiresome early grind
Children of Morta is not interested in a long-term nor the subsequent glorious bloodshed that
relationship: you’ll see everything it has to offer stays with you, but a sense of warmth generated
within 20 hours. by pixel art at its most expressive and one of the REVIEWED BY
You’ll spend most of that time switching most enchanting hubs ever seen in video games. Alexander Chatziioannou

between different Bergson family members to Framed by the luscious greens of an unkempt
explore the environs of their stunning ancestral garden and the royal-gown purples of its sunsets,
home, seeking counsel from reclusive deities, and every inch of the Bergson mansion is lovingly
battling creatures sent into a murderous frenzy by cramped with history-laden paraphernalia: the
the mysterious Corruption that has been slowly stacked tomes of a bookworm, the vials and
poisoning the land. Each tightly focused excursion decanters of an alchemist, the iridescent fauna VERDICT
(runs rarely take more than 30 minutes) uncovers lazily trawling the depths of a lavish aquarium. A gorgeous, warm,
valuable secrets and unlocks further progress It’s the home of a real family; a place where John and engaging action
but, more importantly, allows you to expand the and Mary will cast off their parental worries and roguelike that doesn’t
diverse skill set of your growing cast. break into dance, or a sumptuous feast will bring overstay its welcome.
Prior to that, Children of Morta fails to impress. everyone together, away from the encroaching
Early combat entails little more than the repetitive
clickety-clack of left mouse-button attacks broken
only by the occasional dodge, an attrition battle
darkness. Children of Morta conceals the number-
crunching and makes you care more about these
people than your next permanent upgrade.
79%
wfmag.cc \ 63
 Rated
Review

HIGHLIGHT
Kine ’s overworld screen is
a sprawling city full of purple
hues that only gets more
vibrant as you roll your way
through the puzzles. Players
will zoom down into the
puzzle from the hub in a
seamless fashion. Charming
hand-drawn lines then show
you how far you’ve come and
what areas are left to traverse.

 ach puzzle has you rolling

E


and stretching across a variety

of objects to reach a book of
sheet music, which bookends
every level.

 rom desks to recording studios, tunnels of love

F


Review to calendars, you’ll explore a wonderful series of
puzzle play spaces that serve Kine ’s story.

Kine
Codes and Keys

K
ine is a 3D puzzle game telling
the story of Euler, Quat and Roo:
robot instruments with bodies
GENRE
Info

made out of musical equipment.

Puzzle
Their peculiar cymbal limbs and
FORMAT
Switch (tested) accordion torsos extend and fall like friendly Kine’s soundtrack is a cornucopia of soothing
/ PC / PS4 / tetrominoes, obscuring your view and clicking and jazz, with characters and new areas introduced
XBO / Stadia clacking against dioramas of obstacles, making by finger-snapping drum fills. A welcome break
DEVELOPER musical notes as they move. from the intensity of modern gaming, it’s
Gwen Frey Beyond the set dressing, Kine has you best played cosily with a hot drink, and all the
PUBLISHER completing spatial logic puzzles by moving these better if you pick it up on Switch – it quickly
Chump Squad absurd objects around in a 3D space to reach a became a brilliant antidote for my busy mind on
PRICE defined objective. Fans of Stephen’s Sausage Roll weeknights.
£14.99
or English Country Tune will be right at home here. Alas, eventually you’ll start having to use
RELEASE
The constant puzzling is complemented by all three of our tinny heroes at once, which
Out now
vibrant textures and a scraggly, charming art considerably ups the ante. When Kine’s
style. Solo developer Gwen Frey’s experience complexity hit its apex, my lizard brain started
REVIEWED BY as an animator shines through in the way each to look past the endearing charm of its
Jordan Oloman character jangles and moves, right down to the world. Perhaps I’m just an idiot, but the more
satisfying manner in which the protagonists are constrained spatial difficulty of later puzzles led
catapulted into the next scene after each puzzle. me to bouts of impatient trial and error, and
I say scene for a reason: the way Frey carefully I started to feel distant from the experience.
ties the filmic narrative of Kine to the puzzles is its There are some seriously tricky puzzles here
greatest success. From lovers’ tiffs to Kafkaesque that will delight those who love having their
VERDICT paper-pushing, I struggle to think of other games brain cells tickled, but may leave casual players
Like La La Land for maths in this genre with such raw inspiration teeming feeling a bit miffed. Given that the story’s tied
nerds, Kine ties together from every conundrum. Yet the beauty is that all to the puzzles, it’s primed to frustrate folks who
a clever narrative with these clever parts form such a cohesive narrative prefer charm over challenge.
satisfying puzzle action. whole. The puzzles in Kine service a story about If you’re a clever clogs, you could probably
ambitious young creatives trying to make it in a finish Kine in an evening, but curious puzzlers

74% difficult music industry. It’s a relatable tale full of

dry wit and biting commentary. Sonic stars are
born right in front of your eyes.
will no doubt get days or even weeks of mileage
out of this indie charmer’s clever puzzles and
bubbly story.

64 / wfmag.cc
 Now playing
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W
an opposition player, then score
hen the year starts to wind about it. But layered on top are the little tricks a goal using said head. Video
down; as it gets colder and and tweaks to matches – pick-ups that can games are most definitely the
you’re staying indoors more teleport the ball to your centre forward or purest form of art.
often; when there’s more time freeze opponents in place, score multiplying
to reflect, think, and revisit loops, even a ball-electrifying nodule that allows
games of your past, what do you do? Not play you to knock down any opposing player who
Speedball 2? Oh. Right. Well, you might not relate stands in the orb’s path. There’s training and a
to this then, because it’s exactly what I do – and transfer market, in which you can build up the
exactly what I’ve been doing: making my way stats of your woeful starting line-up, or buy in
through the league once again in the Bitmap experienced veterans to pad out your weaker
Brothers’ Amiga classic (which was developed in areas. It’s just… great. Soccer Brawl
parallel with the Atari ST version, of course). I’ve still never managed to win the entire NEO GEO
I’d jump to saying ‘the game doesn’t matter league with my starting line-up, the motley crew Classic arcade fodder for
because the nostalgia is so strong’, but the fact of dullards and dimwits, lacking their scars and… the Neo Geo, in which an
is that it does matter. If Speedball 2 remained well, any recognisable features. I’ve specced approximation of football is
little more than an ancient them up, I’ve built them into played out in combination with
curio linking me to my youthful better players, I’ve always got so Speedball -style armour and
“I’ve played
days, a game that tingled the far, but then the injuries start bewilderingly violent tackles.
warmest parts of my mind Speedball 2 too to mount, and it ends up being Fun in short bursts.
but also one that had aged much, that’s what cheaper – or at least quicker –
badly, this wouldn’t be a I’m getting at” to just buy a whole new player.
yearly tradition. I’d play it for Jams, usually, or maybe Midia
a bit, a couple of times in a if I’m short on cash. Bodini
decade, then reminisce about it online instead. if I need a reliable, wall-shaped man in goal.
No, Speedball 2 is still a lot of fun, and as such, Not Weiss, though – he’s a waste of money
it becomes something I end up playing for far beyond the first half of the first season.
longer than I intend. It always happens eventually, and I always Mutant League
The old adage applies: simple, but with regret it after the fact. But I just keep on doing Hockey
depth. Is that an old adage? Feels like it it, every time I play the blasted thing. I’ve played MEGA DRIVE
should be. Hm. Regardless, Speedball 2 is as Speedball 2 too much, that’s what I’m getting at. Here’s hoping EA will pivot the
straightforward as ‘score more points than When does nostalgia stop being cute and start NHL license into this more
your opponent by throwing the ball in the goal, being something that actually encroaches ghoulish territory and bring back
hitting a couple of different point markers, or on your life? Ah well, I hear there’s ice cream this wonderful, stupid game of
beating the opposition to a pulp’. And that’s somewhere at least. skating and smashing skulls.

wfmag.cc \ 65
 Killer Feature
Final Fight

Final Fight
Making room by making a sacrifice

CAPCOM / 1989 / ARCADE, MULTI

T
he beat-‘em-up special attack had been doing of their terraced houses and watching you shirtlessly beating
the rounds a while by this point – headbutts their friend Chunk half to death. On a regular day, what with
and elbows in Double Dragon, running attacks your biceps being measured in metres rather than inches,
in River City Ransom, the excellent spin-kick in you’d be able to repeatedly punch all of these local boys
Double Dragon II, and so on – but, by my count, into the need for seriously expensive healthcare solutions.
it was Final Fight that actually made the act of using a special But today there’s one too many, and their attacks – while
move one that also hurt you a bit. Surely that’s just annoying? needling and not necessarily threatening individually – are
Well, not really, because while it’s framed as a powerful attack coming together to put your next term as mayor under threat.
you can (almost) always engage, it’s more of a desperation No bin-chickens in sight, your stonewashed denim-sporting
manoeuvre than anything else. So, in partner off smashing up a phone box
the context of the situation, it makes “The whirling dervish to see if he can find a steel pipe in it
sense that this exertion would leave thonks all the men who (even though they aren’t used in the
you more worn out than the usual array construction of phone boxes), things
of unceasing street vengeance.
were trying to avenge their do indeed start to get desperate.
I should probably step aside from half-comatose friend” Tapping Jump and Attack together,
bringing actual logic into the beat- our hyperviolent public servant
‘em-up genre, what with it being one in which the heroes extends his tree trunk-like arms out and, with all the grace
are invariably men who fight other men (from less fortunate of a five-year-old after two months of ballet class, spins on
backgrounds) and eat a lot of chicken out of bins. See, Final the spot. The whirling dervish thonks all the men who were
Fight’s health-draining special was one of those features that trying to avenge their half-comatose friend, each left in a
was so quietly brilliant, that made so much sense, that it was sprawled heap next to the remnants of a bin, the phone
quickly adopted by plenty of other scrolling brawlers that box, and a pile of tyres. There’s mild additional damage done
followed. When you become a standard feature, you know to his overall health, but it has been fully effective and has
you’re onto something good. cleared ol’ Mike of the immediate threat. Situation under
It’s the everyday story for mayor Mike Haggar. You’re being control, he can now go back to doing what he does best:
assaulted by five blokes with names like Slim and Curd and violently assaulting the electorate.
Gnat, or whatever, who engaged in combat after walking out What a wonderful feature it is.

66 / wfmag.cc
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