You'd be hard-pressed to find anything festive about this creepy chair

The holiday season is well underway, which means it's probably time for us to share something fun and festive with you! Unfortunately, when I asked around, I was told we didn't have anything with sugar plums, mistletoe, reindeer, or even a tin filled with stale popcorn. This is why I've decided to post this creepy chair instead:

There’s probably something festive about this image, but I just can’t see what. Do you have any ideas? Better yet, do you have any guesses as to what this image says about Spookyland? Let us know!

Oh, and happy holidays! 

Going out with a BANG!

Our sweet and supple Producer, Dant Rambo, tells me that I have a devlog post to write today.

So, I’ll tell y’all what I’m working on at the moment.

You remember the cannon micro-game after you got a Perfect run in Runner2, right?

The anticipation is killing me!

In Runner3, we’re going to be giving this simple and infuriating micro-game a bit more funjuice.

While we all loved the elegant simplicity of the feature the first time around (insert scream here when you miss the bullseye while going for a Perfect+), it could get somewhat repetitive if you were trying to Triple Perfect+ the whole game.

So for Runner3, each playable character is going to have their own distinct target micro-game! 

The barfening out of creativity.

The biggest challenge here is to keep the micro-game as simple as it was in Runner2 for each character’s variation while at the same time making them all distinct from one another.

In game design, one often has to work within constraints, but when the constraints are so simplistic, as in this cannon micro-game, and you have to make so many variations, the constraints can feel overly restrictive. 

It’s also easy to overdesign while thinking you’re keeping things simple. In fact, one of the designs on the whiteboard above is definitely too complex. Which one do you think it is?

The constraints we ended up settling upon were that the micro-game takes one button press, there’s no on-screen HUD telling you what to do, and there’s only one thing moving in each variation. Once we settled on these constraints and made them explicit, the designs fell into place.

So, when you get your fingerhands on Runner3 next year, and you’re trying for an elusive Perfect+, you’ll get to choose which micro-game you want by playing as a specific character.

Now, who are all these characters…

A Crate of Monstrous Proportions

Hey, everyone!

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but most of our bodies are still filled with pie, turkey, potatoes, and determination. It’s the latter item which has inspired me to write today’s blog post and share with you all a creature we lovingly refer to around the office as the “crate monster”:

As you can see, this strange creature has taken up residence inside an empty Schlörtz crate, like a bizarre, landlubberly hermit crab. The fact that it lives in a box makes me think it values its privacy, which I’m going to try and respect here. 

I’m sure you have millions of questions about this odd monster, but as noted above, I really do think it would prefer to just be left alone. Let’s talk about something else in the comments. Maybe you have some guesses as to what the other worlds of Runner3 will be? Or perhaps you have a theory about what CommanderVideo and friends are up to in this game? Let’s discuss it in the comments!

Just please keep questions and comments about this creature to a minimum. 

- Dant

A Retro Challenge Check-In

Hi ho…Jason here. Guess it’s my turn to write the blog post again!

I’m still super hard at work crafting all the “Retro Challenge” levels for Runner3. Today I’ve decided to share a very scrumptious screenshot of what’s to come.

Pretty different, huh? You need to see these levels in action. They are FUN.

They’re not only fun, but they’re also very different Retro Challenges than what you’ve played before. In actuality, the entire set of Retro Challenges will take place across multiple worlds that are separate and unique from the main game, but also, you’ll find that these special levels add up to essentially be an entire, separate video game within a video game.

In past RUNNER games, the Retro Challenges were much more simplified auto-running levels. In RUNNER3, these levels are serious business. Tons of unique enemies, loads of strange obstacles and puzzles and pitfalls, and all sorts of surprises to discover and explore. I’m very certain that you are going to have tons of fun times with this sub-game. But here’s the secret sauce that’s really going to freak out all you CommanderVideo fans: you’re in total control of CV in these levels! That’s right…run, jump….OR EVEN STOP! Writing that sentence even freaked ME out! Where am I?! What world is this that I live in?! What are these fabric tubes my legs are trapped in?!!? (Editor’s Note: Jason, those are your pants.)

I certainly hope you’re ready to use all those other weird directions that your D-pads can move in. And remember, you heard it here first: you’re getting two games in one with RUNNER3! Congratulations to you, video game buyers of…THE FUTURE.

- Jason

The Mollusc Among Us

Hey everyone,

This week’s update is a pretty exciting one! After much consideration on our end, we’ve decided the time is finally right to share a pretty awesome background character with you. Take a look: 

Now, this isn’t your ordinary background character. It has gameplay implications, you see. This is something you’ll likely see a fair amount of in Runner3: The inhabitants of the world playing a part in CommanderVideo’s adventure. Sometimes in a helpful way, and other times not so much!

Do you have any guesses as to what our eight-armed friend is up to? Share your ideas in the comments and we just might let you know if you guess correctly!

- Dant