Family Personalities Serve as Character Classes in Children of Morta

Hi, my name is Aryan Bina, and I’m a Lead Designer at Dead Mage studios, creators of Children of Morta. Our game is an action RPG with a rogue-lite approach to character development, where you don’t play a single character but a whole, extraordinary family of heroes. Gamers hack’n’slash through hordes of enemies in procedurally generated dungeons, caves, and lands and lead the family of Bergsons, with all their flaws and virtues, against the forthcoming Corruption. It will land on Xbox One October 15 and can be played in two-players local co-op with online cooperation upcoming in the future updates.

In our game, characters are unlike any other heroes. We took a twist on classic RPG character classes and shaped skills accordingly to their personalities. Instead of going for just warrior or mage, we decided to design even such basic game elements with the family theme in mind. Also, a compelling story must have memorable characters, so we don’t want to end with a group of random and ordinary adventurers known from a dozen of fantasy stories. We needed a real heroic family that feels like a proper one not only thanks to the unfolding tale but also thanks to gameplay mechanics. Our family is called the Bergsons.

We built Children of Morta classes around the unique personalities, family-oriented traits, and family archetypes. Bergsons are guarding Mount Morta against the ancient Corruption. In those dark times, Father John would do everything for his loved ones. He feels he need to be sturdy protection for wife and kids so he’s a warrior type – more powerful and less speedy tank character who bears sword and shield.

Meanwhile, Kevin – the youngest of John’s sons – struggles to prove he’s mature enough to serve as a guardian like his siblings. He’s yet not so brave as them so he’s a stealth character with invisibility and throwable daggers up in his sleeve. And the youngest daughter Lucy – red-headed and always bursting with energy, learns how to be a fire mage and is carefully mentored by the kin eldest grandma Margareth. Characters are unlocked throughout the story progress and players will be able to choose also bow-wielding Linda, martial artist Mark, John’s eldest daughter and son respectively, and his nephew Joey who swings a havoc-wreaking sledgehammer.

What’s important is that every family member plays differently. Lucy and Linda are a ranged-oriented duo, with arrows and fireballs flying all around. And you could play them like in twin-stick shooters using the attacks on the right analog stick. Meanwhile, throwing fists Mark or dagger cutting Kevin both are close-quarters combat characters just like John.

But a slower father can dash once at a time, and then must wait for the ability to cool down. And that forces different tactics in dungeons than while playing with for example Kevin. Because that fast-paced kid has three dashes in a row ability. We believe that among our family-based party everyone will find a character who suits their most adored playstyle. This is a hack’n’slash action RPG, but it’s a game about the family after all!