Developer Secret Door made two announcements recently: First, that it planned to launch a 2.0 version of its co-op tactical RPG Sunderfolk, and that it was working on an entirely new game set in the same universe, called Shadowstone.
Shadowstone is a spin-off from Sunderfolk, with completely different gameplay. According to developers at Secret Door, it grew from a mode created for Sunderfolk that eventually grew enough to stand on its own. Part of the motivation behind it, they told me, was to offer something that Sunderfolk players had long expressed their wishes for: A game that could be played solo.
Mike Morhaime, CEO of Secret Door’s parent company Dreamhaven, said in a statement, “The team at Secret Door continues to innovate with games that bring people together in positive ways. Shadowstone reflects that commitment by expanding the beloved Sunderfolk universe, and in a way that allows players to group up or take on this challenging adventure solo.”
What is Shadowstone?
Shadowstone is a tactical roguelite game for 1-4 players, set in a shadowy region of the Sunderlands, though one doesn’t need any experience with Sunderfolk in order to play it. It also doesn’t require phones to play, being at present a PC-based experience that will launch on Steam in early access sometime this year.
Players select preset characters, some like the Berserker and the Pyromancer returning from Sunderfolk and some, like the Witch, being new. The player(s) then attempt to rout a randomized collection of monsters from the ruins, using team synergies and abilities, skill cards and powerups.
GamesBeat spoke with the developers of Shadowstone, about the game and how it grew from Sunderfolk. Jerrick Flores, the technical design lead who worked on an early build of Shadowstone, told me that it was made for players to access the complex tactical gameplay that takes a while to access in Sunderfolk.
“A really big driving force for this game mode was, how do we actually get to that fun, crunchy tactics gameplay a lot faster?” said Flores. “How do we make the commitment to these tactics lower and faster, more approachable? That led to the early discoveries, which lets you jump in and engage with this high level immediately.”
From sundered beginnings
Erin Marek, game director at Secret Door, told GamesBeat that they spun out Shadowstone after it grew beyond the confines of Sunderfolk’s assets. “A big goal for us was to get this out to players quickly. We have an awesome group of dedicated players who like Sunderfolk, and they’re always itching for more content. Pulling this out allow us to get it to them faster. Keeping it in Sunderfolk would have slowed us down quite a bit.”
Chris Sigaty, studio head at Secret Door, added that the game is also less narratively focused than Sunderfolk. “There’s the potential for Sunderfolk’s audiences to enjoy what Shadowstone is, but also a whole new group of players who maybe don’t want the deeper narrative and want something that is faster. It has the potential to appeal to wider audiences by not requiring players to go through Sunderfolk to get to Shadowstone.”
Sagaty also said, “Sunderfolk did something new, trying to break down the barriers to allow people to play in that couch co-op way, so we showed it in that light. It’s part of what Sunderfolk’s marketing focused on… We’re very much ensuring you can play cooperatively with friends, and that is a great way to play Shadowstone, but we also want it to be an experience that’s fun if you just want to go after challenges. I think we’ll see a larger number of players challenge themselves even solo in Shadowstone.”