Wartornis a turn-based tactical roguelite by Stray Kite Studios, a team headed up by industry veteran Paul Hellquist. Hellquist has had an impressive career run: he served as the creative director ofBorderlands 2,a lead designer forBioShock, and a lead designer forSWAT 4, among other projects. Though he cut his teeth working on first-person shooters,Wartorncouldn’t be farther outside the usual. In fact,Wartorncouldn’t be farther from the idea it evolved from—a free-to-play multiplayer title, as Hellquist revealed.
In a conversation with Game Rant, Hellquist spoke aboutWartorn’s earliest iterations, before it took shape as the tactical roguelitecurrently in Early Access. He also weighed in on the team’s inspired approach to roguelite game design and how each run is made to feel distinct.
Wartorn’s Unlikely Start as a Multiplayer Game
Initially, the team was developing the game with an understandable aim of attracting a publisher, so the project took shape as amultiplayer free-to-play title. However, it’s often better to create something authentic and passionate, as games developed this way can attract an audience of players looking for exactly what it offers. Understanding this, Hellquist says the team pivoted toward what they were truly interested in: roguelite tactics. Hellquist says:
“It evolved from a bunch of different angles. We had worked on a different version of the game for a while. It was multiplayer and free to play, and when we decided to dust it off, we realized we were doing some features because it was what we thought a publisher wanted instead of what we actually wanted to make. So we pivoted the whole design toward the rogue-lite tactics game. Our team loves rogue-lite games because of the consequences that every decision can have on the outcome, as well as the growth they provide – not only in gear and stats, but also in player skill.
We then went from there and started adding elements like a world ravaged by war to help contextualize all of the fighting, but we wanted to do something that wasn’t about the war itself, but about people surviving the war around them and trying to reunite their family. That eventually led us to the Oregon Trail-inspired road-trip elements of the game, and suddenly, we realized we had something really different on our hands.”
Wartorn’s additional elements then came online one after another. A warlike setting to justify itstactical turn-based combat, but an intimate story about survival to bring a more personal perspective and a stronger attachment to units within the game.
How Wartorn Blends Turn-Based Tactics With the Roguelite Formula
There are plenty of turn-based tactics games floating around the genre, but few of them delve into roguelite progression, and this is whereWartornfinds its niche. Players embark on a unique path through the overworld map, similar to progression throughSlay the Spire’s branching paths, acquiring a variety of resources and upgrades to improve the chances of a successful run. As Hellquist describes:
“Taking nods from other titles, we have a lot of different resources to collect on a run and spend in different ways to level up your capabilities, whether it be the heroes’ weapons, spells, their family members, or improvements for your entire fighting force.
Next, there are the events and encounters that happen on the road. These happen in different orders, and you may get many different results from each of them. This encourages players to explore the events to learn all of the possible outcomes. The more knowledge you have, the better decisions you can make in the future.
Combat on maps plays out differently every time because the make-up of the enemy forces and the player’s caravan is different on each run.”
Inclassic roguelite game fashion, every run ofWartornis made unique thanks to the potential makeups of the player’s forces and the ever-changing encounters they’ll be pitted against. It’s an engaging loop for turn-based tactics fans seeking a challenge that asks them to master its systems, rather than merely mastering its levels.
