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The Firing Line: 5 questions for Gobelinz Studio on Dungeon Rushers

What's the most elaborate way to ensnare a friend?

The Firing Line: 5 questions for Gobelinz Studio on Dungeon Rushers
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| Dungeon Rushers

Dungeon Rushers's title may make it sound like your typical dungeon-crawler. You know, kill the rat, level-up, kill the goblin, grab the loot.

But it's not your typical dungeon-crawler. In fact, it's surprisingly refreshing for two reasons.

Firstly, the artwork is elaborate. There's the detailed cracks of a skeleton's wooden shield, for one. There's the slow flicker of a torch.

Secondly, Gobelinz Studio's Dungeon Rushers tasks you with both crawling through dungeons AND designing your own trap-filled ones. It even has an online mode so that you can challenge other people to brave your dastardly creation.

Eager to see Dungeon Rushers succeed on Indiegogo, I caught up with Gobelinz's Thomas Frick to talk about laying traps for friends and fighting against the pay-to-win system.

Pocket Gamer: Dungeon-crawling isn't something new in gaming, so what is unique about Dungeon Rushers?

Thomas Frick: That's right: dungeon-crawling is not a new thing in video games. What makes Dungeon Rushers unique is the merging of the dungeon-crawler part with the dungeon construction part.

We are working a lot to provide players with a simple, fun, and great tool that allows them to build the dungeon they want.

We want Dungeon Rushers to be a game playable anywhere and everywhere. If you have a mobile phone, you'll be able to rush / build a dungeon or take part in tournaments wherever you are.

We want the game to be a free multiplayer sandbox / dungeon-crawler.

Pocket Gamer: What are the skills players will need to succeed in Dungeon Rushers?

People will need a tactical sense to build the deadliest dungeon ever and to create the best team. Nevertheless, we want everybody to be able to play the game.

To end a dungeon, you will have to be clever enough to reach the treasure, and you'll have to go through traps and monsters to train your team. With a strong team, you'll be able to try harder dungeons.

Dungeon Rushers

In brief: people will be able to choose their own difficulty. The game will truly provide the hardcore gamers with a great challenge. But if you are a casual player, you'll also have lots of fun!

Pocket Gamer: What are the major differences between the solo and the multiplayer modes of Dungeon Rushers?

The solo part of the game is more like a vast tutorial, introducing all of the game mechanics. We plan to release between 20 and 25 solo missions. Players will unlock the first eight heroes (ten or 12 if we reach additional goals) in the campaign.

Then, they'll be able to use them in the multiplayer mode. Multiplayer mode is the heart of our game. You won't always need to be connected to the internet thanks to the asynchronous nature of our architecture.

If you play on a mobile phone, downloading other players' dungeons when you have a 3G / 4G / wi-fi connection will enable you to play their dungeons offline. Progress will be saved later, i.e. once you get access to the internet again.

We are also preparing an infinity mode (offline mode with random generation of harder and harder dungeons).

Pocket Gamer: Is there anything that players can buy in the in-game shop that may disrupt the balance of the game. Considering that building a dungeon requires parts?

No. There will be NO gameplay modifying items or features in the shop that could give any advantage to someone who pays with real money.

Dungeon Rushers

We fight against the pay-to-win system and try to come up with an alternative. We want all players to be equal during the fights.

The items you'll buy in the shop will be decorations for your dungeon; pets to bring life in the corridors (rats, cats, bats, etc.); or new skins for characters and monsters.

Pocket Gamer: As said, Dungeon Rushers is a free-to-play game. As such, you can't really offer people the game as a crowdfunding reward. What else is on offer, then?

It's hard to explain to people that even if you create a free-to-play game, you need money to develop it!

That's why we chose to provide funders with great rewards in the shape of in-game content. There's a massive decorations pack, for example, with lots of statues, tables, chairs, bones, plants, pets, rocks, and more.

There are material rewards, too, like posters and maps. People can also get full shop access. All funders will, of course, get early access and become beta testers.

High-reward tiers will contain unique stuff, like the possibility of designing in-game objects with our team; the creation of artefacts (for example, creating a weapon, choosing the stats, the name, the design); the creation of monsters; and even the creation of heroes.

Chris Priestman
Chris Priestman
Anything eccentric, macabre, or just plain weird, is what Chris is all about. He turns the spotlight on the games that fly under the radar.