The game jam origins of Titan Souls and its one-hit kills

Bosses take health bars for granted.

Seemingly immortal opponents have diminished far too many game-ending fights. While your character could only survive a few glancing blows, the giant menace before you can uncharacteristically absorb buckets of bullets, spells, and sword swipes. The makers of the indie action (single-arrow) shooter Titan Souls — released April 14 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PC, and Mac — kept that challenge but ditched the frustration. Both you and your foes take only one hit before death, meaning the only barrier to your victory is strategy. I recently spoke with Mark Foster, the lead designer at Acid Nerve, to find out how this dramatically even playing field affected the game’s design.