Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap Devs Discuss 4-Player Co-Op, New Mages and Bosses, and More

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 31, 2025 4 Views 18 Min Read
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap Devs Discuss 4-Player Co-Op, New Mages and Bosses, and More



Views: 0

Since its first title was released in 2012, the Orcs Must Die! series has continuously introduced new takes on the tower defense genre. Now, four years after the franchise’s last entry, developer Robot Entertainment has launched Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap. Unlike previous installments, Deathtrap introduces roguelite elements to its gameplay experience, aiming to once again reimagine the strategy genre.

Aside from taking a chance with roguelite mechanics, Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap will also be the series’ first entry with a four-player co-op, a step up from the two-player experience found in OMD! 3. In addition, a new generation of Mages is debuting in Deathtrap, while fan-favorite characters like Max are still part of the roster. To learn more about this new chapter of the series, Game Rant spoke to game director Kyle Snyder about the decisions behind Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap. NOTE: This article took place shortly before release. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

7:18

interview-kyle-snyder-orcs-must-die-deathtrap-highlights

Related


Fan-Favorite Characters Returning to Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap – Exclusive Interview Highlights

Kyle Snyder, Game Director of Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, sits down with us to discuss what’s coming to the newest installment in the franchise.

How Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap Sets Itself Aside from Its Predecessors

New Orcs Must Die Game Locks Down Release Date

Q: Deathtrap will be the first Orcs Must Die! title with four-player co-op. Can you discuss the rationale behind this decision?

Snyder: Four-player co-op has been the number one fan request for a long time. It had been avoided in the past for a few reasons, but the primary reason was that the game had been solo-focused for so long, and it would be too difficult to balance for both sets of players. However, I’ve also wanted four-player co-op for a long time, and I’ve been thinking about how to solve this over the ten years I’ve been on Orcs Must Die! When I was given the opportunity to pitch and direct this new entry, I was ready to hit the ground running with these ideas.

The team feels really good about where we ended up on balance between single-player and co-op. There’s a lot that went into it: pacing enemy waves, Rift Points, enemy health, care level design, removing the time pressure between waves, and allowing players to place a ton of barricades before the level begins so their strategy has a solid starting point. I hope Orcs fans who are worried about our addition of four-player co-op give it a shot and see how much focus we’ve put into balancing this experience for everyone. But if you do have a group of friends, or wanna make some in our lobbies, the game is a blast in co-op.

Q: What do you think was most challenging about incorporating rogue-lite elements into the OMDD series?

Snyder: We’re a small team, but when you’re making a game like this, you need a ton of outcomes so the players feel like there are interesting build varieties and meaningful decisions with every run. I was very adamant from the start that I did not want all the player’s decisions to be simple stat increases. Of course, they need to be there for progression, but we need enough of that cool stuff, the fun stuff that makes you play differently or is very visual, like tripling the size of your Flip Trap or changing the elemental damage of your crossbow to fire.

It meant the challenge was in designing efficient systems and tools so design, code, and art could get all of our cool ideas into the game as options. We’ve ended up with seven playable War Mages, over three dozen traps, and nearly 500 Threads (boons). It’s a lot of balancing work (although some broken builds are fun to keep), but we were able to make sure every run is a unique experience.

Q: How did the team work to innovate on the roguelite elements? How does meta-progression work?

Snyder: Where we tried to be more unique is in how the player engages with upping the stakes during their run. While many roguelites force you forward until you fail or reach the end of the game, Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap gives the player an option at the end of each level. “Do you want to go back with all the experience you just earned or do you want to gamble half of it and play another, more difficult, level?” And that next level is also picked by the player from a random selection of three maps, each with a different random challenge attached to it called “Distortions.”

These Distortions can be obstacles like increasing trap prices or adding stronger enemies to the waves, and they stack as you continue your run. “Do we gamble forward? Do we take on a boss for extra experience? Which Distortion do we take on? Which Threads do we pick? Which traps do we take? Which War Mages do we play?” We’re asking the player to make a lot of meaningful decisions, which hopefully adds a ton of replayability, but also adds some real “risk vs. reward” tension. And when that run is over, you take that experience back to the Order Fortress to level up your characters and traps, then hopefully make it further on the next run.

Q: Was there any specific feedback or requests from long-term fans that helped shape the direction of OMDD?

Snyder: We tried to be far more transparent and communicative with this entry, and that means the community had a lot of influence on my decisions. Of course, it started with four-player co-op and reintroducing heroes with unique abilities, but it goes way beyond that. We started very early with a couple of playtests with some longtime community members. We ran a few larger-scale playtests where we collected feed, and you’ll find me in the OMD Discord every day talking about the game. Bringing them in so early and so often makes me feel a lot more confident in the final project, and it’s also more fun that way. I can’t always do exactly what they want, but it’s a better game with their input.

A great example is during the first large-scale technical playtest, the number of barricades was found to be too restrictive and too difficult to work with. We had balanced around it, but it just wasn’t “fun” enough. I love the new design of how barricades work, but it clearly needed tweaks. Within a few hours of chatting with fans in the OMD Discord, I got the leads together and we were able to push a patch to increase the barricade count. The second half of that playtest had a lot more positive feedback.

What’s New in Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap

New Orcs Must Die Game Locks Down Release Date

Q: Are there any new character abilities or traps that you think players could find particularly interesting?

Snyder: ​​​​​​​I’m really having a lot of fun with the Cursed Ground trap. It’s a large floor trap that collects the souls of the enemies that die while standing on it. These souls increase the damage the trap deals. Not only does it look really cool and spooky, but it’s fun trying to optimize your trap box to get enemies to die in a specific spot.

As for abilities, it adds a ton of variety to the game, but what I’m most interested in is seeing how the players build “broken” overpowered synergies. For example, a normal headshot from our “sniper” character deals about 1,000 damage, but another game designer and I were able to find the right combination of Threads and abilities between two characters to hit a 97,000 damage headshot. I love this sort of thing, and I know we’re just scratching the surface.

Q: Kalos and Sophie are new War Mages with animal-like features. Can you talk about designing these characters?

Snyder: ​​​​​​​So Kalos and Sophie are our anthropomorphic bear and cat characters, respectively. We had quite a few animal characters in Orcs Must Die! Unchained, and as a big fan of having a lot of fantasy races to pick from, I was excited to incorporate this back into our world. Now, they did get quite the redesign, but we’re really happy with how they turned out. Kalos is the strong, silent type. He wields a giant hammer but also uses the power of nature to heal himself and his allies. We thought the bear represented both these attributes well.

Sophie is my favorite character design in the game and has also been very popular in playtests. She’s meant to be our twist on the “edgy” character. Think Rocket Raccoon: looks adorable, but you better not tell them that. So, while Sophie is a dagger-swinging, bloodthirsty, death-loving necromancer with a skeleton warrior summon, she’s also a tiny calico. I’m also just a big fan of sassy calicos in real life, so I did push my influence a bit on that one. I don’t expect us to stop at bears and cats, so definitely expect even more variety in the future.

Q: Are there any boss Orcs that you are eager to see players face? What can you tell us about how OMDD approaches Boss encounters?

Snyder: ​​​​​​​All of them! But Tudd the Reclaimer is easily my favorite. Tudd is an orc warlord who collected the remnants of OMD! 3’s final boss Vorwick to gain his own magic abilities, but he’s also an idiot. You fight him in a coliseum, where he disables your traps while chanting his own name. Bosses actually have voiceover lines for the first time in the series. If you listen during the battle, you can hear their different motivations for trying to rule the orcs and destroy the Order War Mages.

We’ve also completely revamped how boss encounters work in this entry. I was never satisfied with them in the past. Instead of just sending a big, meaty minion in the final wave, our new boss levels are one long wave. All the doors are open when you come into the level, you have a ton of rune coins to place traps, and then you battle the boss who isn’t going directly for the Rift like the orcs, but instead, supporting their troops or coming after the player.

The Roadmap for Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap

New Orcs Must Die Game Locks Down Release Date

Q: In a previous interview with Game Rant, you mentioned that Gabriella would eventually become playable in OMDD. Could you share anything more about her release or kit?

Snyder: ​​​​​​​Well, I can tell you that we’re working on her right now; she’s so cool and unique. Here are a few things I can share: she’s getting a new look to get her battle ready and I know the fans are going to love it; she’s introducing a new and improved arcane magic and status effect, which is purposely absent from the base game; and finally, is it even Gabriella without a little mesmerization?

Q: What should OMDD players expect throughout 2025?

Snyder: ​​​​​​​We’ll have a more detailed roadmap in the coming days, but we’re hard at work on a lot of exciting additions. Gabriella and a new map, Resort Canal, will be coming not too long after launch, in addition to a few other little surprises. And then, throughout the year and beyond, we’ll be adding more traps, War Mages, enemies, modes, and maps. I can’t discuss all of the monetization (above my paygrade), but I can tell you that all maps will be free for all players. I’m also still working on incorporating player feedback into future features, and that’ll become even more important as more people get their hands on the game.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to say to players ahead of launch?

Snyder: ​​​​​​​There’s a legacy behind this game that is extremely important to me. I started my career on this series, and while we are innovating, I want to respect what makes OMD!, OMD!. I hope our longtime fans can see that shine through when they play Deathtrap. And if you don’t know Orcs Must Die!, this is the perfect time to grab some friends and dive in. I’m told it’s the best one yet. Oh, also, the OST rules. I asked Phill Boucher to rock out on this one, and he killed it. Check it out.

[END]

Source link