The end of our Highlight-series is approaching. Let's talk about meta-progressions.
1. Choice paralysis: Giving players too many choices right off the bat can make them feel overwhelmed, leading to them making uninformed choices. Having players start off with a smaller set of content instead, unlocking more as they play the game is a far better option. In our case we found this to be true with Forges and Items, which is why most Items in Gerty must be unlocked.
2. Unchanging gameplay: Rogue-lites are all about learning and experimenting. However, if every playthrough is the same character buying the same items, fighting the same enemies, it eventually gets tedious and predictable. Unlocking new content like characters and items through meta-progression is a good way of encouraging players to try out new things. And even in the long run, experiment with different characters, perk and item combination is a good way of keeping repeated playthroughs fresh.
Get Famous
The easiest way to think of Fame is as an "unlock currency" (no real money required). Every time you finish a playthrough - be it by death or completion - you're awarded with Fame based on your performance. This includes the Juice you collected, your character's level, the number of levels you completed and the achievements you unlocked. This means achievements are still important in the current system, but not required for those who don't care for them.
So what can you spend it on?
New gear
When you're exploring the deep tunnels of the alien planets you're bound to come across several types of Forges. Spread across them you'll find a collection of 40 Items, 24 of which are unlockable with Fame. The Items and Forges are divided into four categories:
- Offence: Damage and effectiveness in combat
- Defence: Healing, enemy debuffs and survivability
- Utility: Exploration and Juice boosts
- Stats: Upgrades and boosts to your core stats
If you feel like you're in need of a slight edge in combat or just want to find a character build just for you, get unlocking and experimenting!
New faces
If you want to experience Gerty to its fullest extent (or Commando isn't quite your style), there are three other playable characters available for unlocking:
- Commando: The mobile, long-range all-rounder
- Magnus: The short range master of melee combat
- Preacher: The high damage crowd control expert
- Unum: The teleporting and trap-laying specialist
Each of the characters has a different arsenal and playstyle, so be brave and try them all out - you might find a new favorite. We even have some character specific achievements for the completionists crowd and Fame hunters, just in case the gameplay variety wasn't incentive enough.
New challenges
You can unlock additional character Challenges to scratch those very itches - 10 Challenges per character for a grand total of 40. Most of them limit either your skills or stats in some way, so you can't beat all of them using the same tricks. If you do manage to beat one you'll be rewarded for your efforts with Fame. Maybe you'll want to use it to unlock the next one and see if you're a bad enough dude to beat them all?
Play for yourself!
Head on over to Steam, add Gerty to your Wishlist and play the free demo to prepare yourself for the Early Access release on December 3rd.
Join our Discord server!
Follow us on social media for more frequent updates!
