Meet the team
What inspired the concept of “Wantless”? In particular, the unique premise of entering patients’ minds to battle their inner demons?
We wanted to combine gameplay from games we enjoy with real-life themes we like to think and talk about, some of which we struggle with ourselves. As for entering patients’ minds specifically, that felt like a good way to keep the theme there as often as possible, without having it interrupt gameplay. Truth is, tactical gameplay and build customization didn’t necessarily go hand-in-hand with exploring people’s inner struggles, so having you actually face Cynicism as a materialized threat was a way to solve that.
Can you walk us through the development journey? What were some of the key challenges you encountered along the way?
Wantless is our first game, and you’re never short on challenges with those. As a small 3-people team, you’re always juggling multiple tasks at the same time, and everything you choose to work on is time away from something else that might be just as important. We progressively became a little better at weeding out what’s less important, but I’d say that’s always one of the challenges. Do you spend these next couple hours implementing some UI quality of life, or working on better enemy balancing? Balancing is a tough one by the way, as its complexity increases with the amount of build customization freedom.
The turn-based combat system in Wantless adds a strategic layer to the gameplay. How did you go about designing this system?
The “Action point symmetry” feature (your enemies get to play with as many Action Points as you play with) is an important part of maintaining strategic player agency when controlling a single character in a turn-based game. We iterated on different versions of the system, from no symmetry at first, to perfect symmetry with enemies unable to store AP across turns, and the current iteration felt like a nice balance.
Mental health is a sensitive topic. How did you approach depicting themes of inner struggles in a respectful and responsible manner?
We’ve no background in psychology or mental health in general, so we do our best to stick to our dystopian fiction and its mood. While there are parallels between the game’s Transposition tech and real-life topics, we’re not trying to give anyone advice or accurate medical descriptions. Though we find some of it to be relatable, Wantless’ depiction of the psyche is a rather bleak one, representing everyday emotions and struggles in a way that feels fitting for a dark post-apocalyptic world.
As developers, what do you hope players will take away from their experience with Wantless?
At its core, Wantless is a challenging tactical RPG with a ton of build customization tools you can experiment with, and I think that’s where most of the fun’s to be had! There’s something rewarding about finding your own personal solution to a tough boss fight, or putting together a build that feels unique. For players more interested in the story, we hope you find some of it to be relatable!
