On April 21, Drop Duchy Complete Edition launches on PS5. It’s a strategy game about building a kingdom, making tough choices, and sometimes watching everything fall apart. I’m JB, the game director, and I’d like to tell you how this project grew from a small idea into the game it is today.
So, how did the idea start?
The initial spark came from the realization that I enjoy playing tile-laying board games but couldn’t find many video games built around such mechanics. I was telling myself: imagine if there was a forest tile, and when you place a “Lumber camp” tile next to it, you gain some wood, which you can then spend to build on another tile. And thus the core of Drop Duchy was born.
Once this basic idea was in place, I had ideas for many more buildings and terrains, but it also opened the door to many questions. Figuring out the answers took many iterations in the early phases of the project.
I opted for a medieval theme because I love this time period, but that begged the question: how do I fit combat into it? I tried different ideas before landing the final design but one thing that remained throughout was the mechanic of forcing the player to place enemy tiles, too (and making them think about how to negate their effect).
Then there were questions about the structure: how do you win or lose? When does it end? What makes each game varied? And the answers came naturally once we started introducing roguelite elements. Mechanics like procedural runs and having to draft your buildings from a random selection were making for diverse runs where you had to figure out a new strategy each time. The tension of losing your progress if you lost a fight added stakes to each decision.