Popup Dungeon - Kickstarter Updates# 7 & 8

Ring Runner has posted two more updates for Popup Dungeon. The first update is for backers only, and the second one is about questions from backers.

Keeping It Spicy

This morning’s quick update will be followed later today by a special backers-only update with some special goodies for you! 

Here’s a question we’ve gotten a few times:

If everything is balanced, won’t it all be kind of… you know… the same?

That’s a very good point. If everything had the same exact potency in all situations, then it wouldn’t really matter what skills you made or how and when you used them. You could just slap at the keyboard and do as well as any chess master. 

But that’s not how things will go in Popup Dungeon! There are four main reasons for this. 

It’s Super Effective!

Like in many video games, abilities are better in certain situations. For instance, a mace may prove more effective against a skeleton, while a sword might do better against fleshier foes.

Not all Cards are Created Equally

Although all effects will be balanced individually, not all abilities are necessarily created equally. We’ll do our best to balance the cast of characters we include for you to start with, but as you create and customize your own heroes and abilities, you’ll find that pairing certain effects simply works better than others. Moreover, the way you combine multiple abilities is very important -- as well as how your party members complement one another. Might sound easy at first but when you take into consideration that you can have 5 party members, each with up to 5 abilities, and each ability can contain up to 5 effects, that’s 125 variables you’re working with! 

Spikes Keep it Spicy

Regardless of how well-crafted your abilities may be, they’re only as powerful as the amount of XP you put into them and their Action Point cost. When you’re designing an enemy, you can load one of its abilities with the lion’s share of the XP weight, which won’t break the game, but will make for exciting encounters. We’ve all been there at some point while playing an RPG, praying the enemy doesn't use THAT ability! And it’s these potential micro-spikes in difficulty that keeps things spicy! 

Adapt or Dig a Grave

Item drops can drastically alter your strategy. You might find a helmet that renders you practically immune to slashing. Or maybe you discover a tome that radically boosts fire damage, but only if you’ve moved a certain amount during a turn prior to using a skill. Forming a team that's only good at executing a single strategy won't be enough; parties must be able to adapt, or they will surely perish!