Words Have Power - How speech became a game mechanic
When we first tested the voice activated mechanic, the idea was simple: you say the spell, and cool stuff happens. But so what, right? It's cool only the first time.
Then while test playing the proof-of-concept prototypes, we realized it was way more fun (and chaotic) when someone else could say it for you. Suddenly, you could rely on your friends to help you out. That teamwork angle really clicked, and it became one of the core pillars of the game.
But then we thought… if words could help, what if they could also harm?
That’s how the idea of curse words - literally, words that are cursed - were born. Saying the wrong word can doom your team and adds to the chaos and laughter.
Then taking this concept of 'taboo' words further, adding an imposter or traitor mode was the next natural step. In traitor mode, the chosen traitor (who can see curse words) can intentionally (and claim it was an accident!) say the wrong words to kill non-traitors and win the game.
Writing Spells 101
At first, our spell phrases were super serious, like "Ashes to Ashes" or "Whispers of Ruin". But once we started testing (and messing about), the serious "wizardy" stuff didn't feel right, it was just funnier to say funny words and phrases.
Writing those spells wasn’t as simple as we thought. Under normal conditions, the spells trigger fine but when players panic, they speak faster, with a higher pitch, and mispronounce everything!
We had to craft spells that were short - around 3 to 4 syllables - and could be said clearly in under two seconds. We rewrote them so often, we ended up making a tool just to test them. We’re now working on releasing that tool to the community so you can make your own spells and share them. More on that soon.
The name Cursed Companions feels more perfect than ever. The pun on the word "Cursed" works so well. "Curse" as in hexed, and "curse" as in speaking foul words.
New demo coming, stay tuned
Thanks for following along - we're still cooking. We have a new demo coming up for Next Fest so stay tuned for more updates. Drop by our Discord channel and say Hi.
And as always WISHLIST!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3265230/Cursed_Companions/