Tynan Sylvester, the developer ofRimWorldshared some fantastic news earlier this month. Rimworld was thehighest player reviewed game on Steam for 2018. Even though the reviews come from the players and not critics, this is still a massive feat. This may have not been achieved though because the game could have turned out much differently.
In a recent interview withIndie Game Website, Sylvester shared some insight on the early development of whatRimworldlooked like. At first, one of the first prototypes he was working on was a roguelike RPG game that was similar toZomboid,but it became less fun to play the more he got into it development.
The next concent was similar toSmash TVand featured “warlocks fighting in an arena for money.” The title would have been calledAnimusand would have included some tower defense elements set to synchronized music. However, ultimately this idea was canned.
Another idea was a mercenary management game that was “sort of likeFootball Manager, but you’re going on missions to try and do whatever the client wants. So if you playedHitman, imagine if you were managing the organization that sends 47 out to kill people; instead of playing the assassin you’re playing the people that manage the assassin.” Sylvester finally canceled this idea because it wasn’t “working quick enough.”
The next project was a starship management that led to the idea forRimworld. The concept for the original idea was described as “kind of boring.” He had some trouble with airlock logistics, Sylvester steered the direction of the game into a more grounded experience which then turned into Rimworld as we know it.
Finally, Sylvester knew his idea fromRimworldwas a good one when his friends wouldn’t leave his house because they wanted to keep playing.
It is always fascinating how far off some games started in development and how they evolve into what they are today. Especially one as great asRimworldis.
