Mobile-based cooperative tactical RPG Sunderfolk takes players to the world of the Sunderlands, a rich fantasy setting inhabited by adorable animals. Players can choose between several classes, each represented by a different species of animal. The Sunderfolk developers explained that they were inspired by existing animal-centric media, but also strategically chose to use animals to represent the classes and their roles within the game visually.
The Best War Games recently had the opportunity to speak with the Sunderfolk developers about their game, an indie title that has been described as "Jackbox meets Dungeons and Dragons." Each player takes control of one class—arcanist, bard, berserker, pyromancer, ranger, and rogue—to complete a series of missions, beginning with defending their hometown of Arden. The world is populated with animals, ranging from the bulky bear berserker to the tiny bugs that the players must rescue and protect in one early-game mission.
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Animals Help Players Visually Understand Sunderfolk's Classes
The Secret Door team decided on anthropomorphic animals to help the players immediately understand the different classes the moment they see them on screen. A "bulky bear" as the berserker immediately lets players know that the class is meant to be a tank, while a "sneaky weasel" makes the perfect rogue who focuses on stealth. Secret Door's goal was to make Sunderfolk accessible for both tabletop newbies and veterans, and clarifying the characters' roles visually helps to accomplish this.
Currently, the game features six playable animals: the arcanist is a crow, the bard a bat, the berserker a bear, the pyromancer a salamander, the ranger a goat, and the rogue a weasel. In addition, a number of NPCs, including bugs, sentient mushrooms, and more, can assist players along their journey. Secret Door has currently not decided if more animal classes will be added in the future, but it is potentially open to the idea of including more as DLC.
Sunderfolk Started Out Human-Focused And Then Shifted To Animals
In the early days of development, Sunderfolk was set in a world of humans and featured human playable characters, drawing inspiration from board games like Gloomhaven and Frosthaven. The change to a world populated by anthropomorphic animals was made in late 2021, explained Secret Door studio head Chris Sigaty, as part of the team's goal to make Sunderfolk something unique and new.
"We actually had human characters... We started talking about the IP and what was happening. Somewhere in there, maybe the end of '21, beginning of '22, we started deciding to go the direction of anthropomorphic animals. At the very beginning, we just knew we wanted to create something new."
The team researched other animal-focused media when transitioning Sunderfolk to its final state of a fully animal-inhabited world. The team cited Redwall, Brian Jacques' classic book series, as an inspiration, explaining that it turned to books and board games for inspiration because there were no pre-existing video games that matched what it wanted Sunderfolk to be.
Additionally, making Sunderfolk's cast animals allowed the team to avoid harmful stereotypes often used to design and create villains in fantasy media. Instead, players will fight creatures that dwell underground, such as spiders and a race of original ogres designed by the team. The animal player characters, gorgeous underground realm, and unique setting all help make Sunderfolk a game that draws in its players immediately and keeps them hooked, whether they play one mission at a time or all 30+ in a row.
Sunderfolk is currently in development with a scheduled release window of 2025.