Since our game announced the Steam store page, there are always players and fans asking: What kind of game is this? Or is this game similar to XXX? How is this game played? And so on...
This kind of question is always difficult to answer in one word. In fact, it’s easier to understand if you play the game. But...the game is not done yet. So how can we explain ourselves without a playthrough? This is how The Big Eye Crown blog series was born. We hope that through this form, we will be able to talk to the fans and future players who I have not met, about the game, answer some questions, and most importantly do a little bit of shameless self-promotion, hehe!
（What are you staring? ）
We are a group of Rogue-like fans! We’ve played almost all the mainstream and non-mainstream Rogue games on the market. We’ve even put in thousands of hours on some of the games. Everyone on the team had the desire to make a Rogue-like game. We thought, hey we love Rogue games so much, why not making one?!
At the beginning of the project, we wanted to make a game in an underground city about exploring and fighting monsters. Different dungeon monsters will give you different abilities. You can capture all sorts of strange monsters as you traverse the dungeon and then you can use their skills to fight. The maze of the entire game is randomly generated, and there are other various changes which keep the game fresh even after multiple play throughs.
（Early demo screenshot）
In terms of combat mode, we drew inspiration from the classic Shiren The Wanderer (an incredible Japanese RPG series, also one of the earliest Rogue games) in the "synchronous turn-based combat". The "synchronous round " is simply explained as: when you don't move, the enemy does not move; when you take a step, the enemy also takes a step; all operations take place in the same round. The well-known music battle game Crypt of the NecroDancer also uses a similar combat system.
（Try and catch me!）
In fact, the "turn-based" model of gameplay is not a mainstream type of gameplay. Even in the age when Roguelike games were more popular, this was a little more niche. Nowadays, there are very few such games, and there are many reasons for the decline. However, we feel that this classic gameplay feature should not fade away with time. We hope to reinterpret this classic style gameplay in our own way.
（Shiren The Wanderer ）
Our game differs from the big map setting of Shiren The Wanderer. Instead, our game is similar to The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth with an underground labyrinth of rooms as the setting. Crown Trick also includes controls for different weapons such as swords, guns, and pistols. We wanted to give the game a clearer sense of purpose and strategy, while also making the game more accessible to players of any background or level. I’m not sure whether it wll be welcomed or not, but we just want everyone to be able to play the game.
（Randomly generated room）
In addition, the elemental interaction design is inspired by the game Divinity: Original Sin. The different elements of the terrain have different effects on the battle. In the original Divinity: Original Sin there are a small number of elements that can interact in pairs, resulting in new gameplay changes. We have made new gameplay features based on this concept, adding more elemental terrain to the randomly generated maze, and set up a function where elements can create new interactions with each other. This is a gameplay experience that is not currently available in similar games.
（In-game element dynamic effects）
Eight elements have been designed so far. Can anyone guess how they’ll interact?
Unfinished, to be continued...