A massive update was just brought to Diebrary, so we took the opportunity to speak to Angus Fletcher & Daniel Eichler, two Other Ocean team members behind the game.

“We wanted to make a game in the arena roguelike genre. We're big fans of it. A bunch of our team has played games like Vampire Survivor and 20 Minutes Till Dawn. So we wanted to make a game like this, release it on web, and Kongregate was an amazing partner to do that,” Eichler gushed about how Diebrary came about.

Angus chimed in, "What happens if you cross something, a game like this, that's already kind of known for randomness and chaos - and what happens if you bring a party-game energy to it?"

Diebrary was born out of a desire to create a unique roguelike experience that blends typical roguelike elements with a party-game atmosphere. The team introduced “asynchronous multiplayer, which is something [they] hadn't really seen happening in the genre much before,” allowing players to take turns voting on plot twists that influence the gameplay.

"You might add a twist that's like, the floor is lava, and so now there's all these lava pools that appear," Daniel explained. "It adds a little extra depth to the game because you know, you've got to avoid them yourself, but you can also kite enemies through those lava pools and cause them to take damage."

The developers shared their excitement about the recent updates to Diebrary, including over 20 new plot twists, four additional badges, and extensive balance improvements. Eichler added, "We're not super hardcore on balance, but we want to make sure that options are exciting and useful." These changes aim to keep the gameplay fresh and challenging, striking a balance between difficulty and enjoyment.

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One of the unique features of Diebrary is the "book report" system, which gathers player feedback to improve the game continually. Daniel Eichler revealed that the feedback had been invaluable, helping them refine the game's mechanics and balance. “We use that data to make a stack ranking of all the upgrades and all the weapons and then we can make adjustments.”

The developers expressed their enthusiasm for connecting with the player community. “We're learning from player feedback every day,” Angus explained. Daniel praised the Kongregate comments section for catching issues promptly, emphasizing the studio's commitment to listening to player feedback, “they actually saved our butts just last week.”

As the interview drew to a close, the developers teased upcoming updates, hinting at bringing a more tailored gaming experience for players.

The Other Ocean team will be joining us as we play Diebrary this Friday at 10 am PDT for Kongregate’s weekly livestream. Bring your questions, we’ll be doing giveaways in the YouTube chat!

We strive to bring great unique games to our players on Kongregate.com. If you have a game you’d like to publish with us, reach out to bd@kongregate.com.