Most developers are okay with implementing popular game mechanics in their games. Playing it safe is perfectly fine, we get it! Some developers, however, are fueled by the desire to experiment, hoping that their game will be able to offer a truly unique experience. Dungeon Inn is one such game. Developed by Cat Society, this brand new strategy game lets you manage an inn. Strategically placed near a dungeon, the inn is designed to serve two rival guilds. Your task in all this is to serve both guilds. Hold your horses, though, it’s not as easy as it looks, and you’ll be hard pressed to leave everything behind and find a less stressful occupation.
Talking the walk with Cat Society
After a brief gaming session, we were lucky enough to talk to a representative from the Cat Society and go through some of the Dungeon Inn challenges together. Cat Society is a small South Korean studio of three passionate developers focused on crafting visually beautiful and emotionally resonant games that leave a lasting impact on players. Dungeon Inn is their first game!
Dungeon Inn is their first game! How exciting! And it’s part of Steam Early Access. As such, the game plans to stay there for a while. But why EA?
What do you think are some of the perks that come with an EA release and how do you think that’s going to help you ship a better version of your game? Any plans for a demo as well?
Cat Society: We are trying to create a new kind of gameplay, and while novelty can create excitement, it’s not inherently fun. That is why, to create a fun gaming experience, we hope to get a lot of feedback from players around the world through Early Access, so that we can bring a better, more enjoyable game to our players. We hope to get some valuable advice from our great players on what makes it more fun and how to sustain their enjoyment of the game in the long run.
In Dungeon Inn, you play as Sara. Having made a deal with a dragon to open an inn next to a mysterious dungeon, your task is to attract as many adventurers as possible, while trying to turn a very lucrative profit, thank you very much! All that money, however, isn’t going in your retirement fund; you would have to use it to unlock new areas and events. From what we’ve seen, Dungeon Inn holds the promise for an extremely unusual and fun game. We can’t wait to see how it evolves in the future.
IT.mk: What inspired you to create the story, the world, the unique visual style, as well as the soundtrack?
It started with a friend and I playing a board game and thinking it would be fun to have adventurers and monsters in the same inn. The idea was that the adventurer would go to the dungeon to explore, and the monster would go to work. But the idea of a monster commuting to and from the inn every day felt awkward to me, so I changed it to two adventurer guilds. We wanted to contrast the morally grey story with the cute visuals, and we referenced children’s book illustrations while creating the look for our game. And we worked with a great music composer to capture the atmosphere of the mediaeval fantasy and the comedic elements of Dungeon Inn, and in the chapter opening sequence, we tried to show the relationship between the main characters through video and BGM.
Dungeon Inn is based on a paper prototype. The representative explains that, at the time, he didn’t have much experience in programming, jokingly adding that he still doesn’t. Even so, he wanted to see how much fun he could get out of the game before trying to assemble a proper team. Therefore, he decided to make a paper prototype that was also like a rule book.
Luckily, we also got a sneak peak into the prototype!
The idea was simple: to pace the adventurers approaching from both sides, as if controlling a schedule, and to support the combat by occasionally inducing collisions. Once I had validated that the core part of the game was interesting, I had to get a team together and start developing it in depth. Along the way, I played other great video games and board games for inspiration, and dabbled in other media, all of which influenced <The Dungeon Inn>.
But as I said above, I don’t think newness is the essence of fun. It’s more like interest. If boredom sets in as soon as the player gets used to the freshness, it means that we’re missing the essential fun of the game. Keeping the player entertained until the moment they finish the game, that’s the hardest part, and that’s the challenge we’re still facing.
Early on in Dungeon Inn’s development, Cat Society focused more on combat.
Each adventurer had their own combat skills, and there were more ways for players to get involved in combat when it happened outside the inn’s entrance.
However, we felt that this would have complicated the game and made the focus more on the combat itself and less on scheduling, so we removed it.
We decided to focus more on what made the game unique.
At this point of the interview, the rep explains that releasing this game into early access was an incredibly big moment for them.
We have been working very hard towards this moment and this week has been an absolute whirlwind. We are incredibly excited to finally share Dungeon Inn and the tale of Sara and her friends with the world! We cannot wait to hear what everyone has to say and we really hope the game will be memorable and enjoyable.
Just like your studio, we also have many ambitious developers in North Macedonia. What advice would you give to anyone just starting out in this industry?
First of all, it’s a great honour to meet the developers from North Macedonia through this interview.
I don’t know if I can give them any advice, as we are not at the level yet, but if I had to say something, I would say that once you start developing, you are all amazing for that alone.
I think it’s important to always listen to that little voice in the back of your head that says, “Is this going to be fun?” and that sometimes it’s hard and it’s exhausting, but you keep going. And we’ll try not to forget that, too.
Any final words that you would like to say about your game, team or anyone who has supported you along the way?
Thank you, players and friends, for all your support! Follow us on Twitter and TikTok for the latest news about our game. We will continue to work towards the full version of Dungeon Inn and making it as fun and memorable as we can!
