Microbird Games states that “it’s much better to let players do something interesting once than to make them do something mundane over and over again.”
“We believe that achievements shouldn’t depend on players playing the game over and over again. Players should at least in theory be able to unlock all achievements in one playthrough, even if they’re very difficult,” Microbird Games said. We spoke with developer Skaule recently, who agreed: Magical Delicacy offers Xbox achievements that can be earned in a single playthrough.
“Achievements should therefore not be mutually exclusive – for example, there should not be an achievement for completing Dungeons of Hinterberg in 25 days if there are other achievements that require players to stay longer than that,” Microbird Games continues. Information about Dungeons of Hinterberg shared ahead of launch mentioned a “25 dungeons in 25 days” challenge, so it’s nice to have the freedom to spend some days just relaxing and exploring without being able to do anything else because there aren’t any achievements associated with it.
“There will be very small changes to the ending depending on how much time players spend in the game… but ultimately, we want players to decide for themselves how they want to approach their stay in Hinterberg. It’s perfectly fine to stay as long as you like and finish all storylines with all characters,” Microbird Games said.
“We think achievements are a great opportunity to invite players to explore the game and its systems, and get involved in parts they might not normally touch but end up enjoying,” Microbird Games continues. “A hardcore player visiting Hinterberg to explore dungeons and slay monsters might not think to buy gifts for village NPCs, but with an achievement tied to it, they might find that the character they’re with gives something useful in return when they receive a nice gift. We also think achievements should never be boring — unless they’re about something the player is doing anyway. It’s much better to have the player do something interesting once than to have them do mundane things over and over again.”
Dungeons of Hinterberg launched today on Xbox Game Pass. We got a chance to play it early after getting a code from the publisher, and it was a lot of fun. Read on to find out what we thought of it. First impressions of the Hinterberg dungeonThanks again to the development team and if you want to know more about the game, be sure to check out our upcoming interviews.
