Game Design - Create variety, use it weekly
-how Temtem use particularities to make a recurrent mission-
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Temtem is a monster taming game, and what would it be if there were few monsters in it?
At the 1.0 release, the game provides 165 creatures, of different aspects, genres and species. Little monsters that evolve into big monsters, growing stronger, bulkier and/or faster with the levels but also other solo forms with their own final stats.
Our focus is on two species who have their own singularity. Indeed, there exists two temtems that have variations. Chromeon, whose base type is Digital, and Koish, whose base type is Water.
Despites their base type, they can have a combination with another type making them variations of the same temtem, but with strengths and weaknesses associated to their now double-type.
Every double-type has its own interests for the players, especially for the ranked competitive scene where some can offers advantages and a wider type variety in a limited team. They can also ravish the heart of the collectors that may want to capture the full set, as it has been seen in other similar games.
Now, for Chromeon, there are no more variations than the twelve given by the type of the temtem. That’s not the same for Koish. In fact, there is a lot more complexity in Koish’s model because 5 aspects can differ from on to another, giving us a very high amount of combinations (even within the same type).
Koish, as explicited before, have in fact 5 attributes that can vary in addition to its type. The 3D model of the temtem appearing in front of you in a wild encounter battle is then composed by a random choice between:
- 2 sets of Whiskers (long or short)
- 2 sets of Dorsal Fins (long or short)
- 3 colors for its Tail (drawn from a panel of 6 assorted colors depending on its type)
This way, when you encounter a wild Koish, you will have the opportunity to catch a more or less known variety.
Making an activity out of it
With that much of different characteristics and a pinch of randomness, you can have a wide range of odds at finding ‘the one you want’. And that’s how Temtem made it an ingame activity.
For an online multiplayer game, replayability and regular rendezvous are crucial. Temtem already have a quick daily delivery mission that you can do, but there is also, amongst other activities, Fishing Challenge reseting on every monday.
The players can go to a sweet little place called Nuru Lodge on Kisiwa, the 4th island. In this lodge stands a panel where they can get information about the Koish they will have to fish this week.
The Koish to fish is randomly attributed and there is a rotation cycle through the 12 types, one per week. In the waters around the lodge, the players will then be able to fish Koish from the type of the week, and this type only (the other types of Koish remain available in their respectively attributed spots on each island).
Every player get a randomly associated combination, and therefore have to find their own Koish of the week. Sometimes, it takes you minutes, but sometimes it’s…a little bit longer.
But don’t be afraid, the development team has got your back. They put limitations and help is on the way.
- If the player find a 4 out of 5 criterias Koish, they can present it to the receptionist of the lodge, and they will be helped with a fishing lure that will guarantee you the lock of 2 criterias: whiskers and fins.
- There is a limitation on the number of encounters. The 5/5 Koish will then appear if the player reach the number of encounters fixed for that limit. If no 4/5 was ever found (and thus no lure in the inventory), the 5/5 will appear at the 1000th encounter. But if the player presented a 4/5 and got the lure, the 5/5 will appear at the 500th encounter after lure obtention.
Rewards be granted two times: one pack for the 4/5 and one pack for the 5/5. The players gets the 2 packs of rewards if they present the 5/5 without having a 4/5.
This make a great social activity to do within guilds and groups, and it is known as a nice bonding activity to play while talking with friends. It is known that some groups enjoy their fishing party on monday nights, day of the weekly reset.
