In our chat, Hecker outlined 3 playstyles-one that's an advanced version of 'early game' strategies, one that relies on facts about player behavior and human psychology, and one that closely analyzes the behaviors and animations of NPCs and instantly acts on anything outside those normal bounds.Įach of those players has different needs, requests, and response to fixes, but Hecker said having them is important for the game's long-term health, and it's better for there to be 'no one right' way to play. The SpyParty community has grown to the point that there are now 'professional' tier players, who, in Hecker's own words, are essentially playing a different game than lower-tier players. It's good for there to be multiple pro playstyles The thing is, SpyParty didn't have to go down the Poker route, and Hecker could have continued to make that Go-inspired version of the game, but as the community grew and Hecker observed what they were doing with his game, he explains that following that path of development became more imperative because it built more soundly on the game's foundations, rather than the version of the game originally in his head. In Hecker's own words, SpyParty was conceived as a game that would resemble Go, with the rules being fixed and there being perfect strategies that players would test, when in reality it's turned into something closer to Poker, complete with bluffs and strategies that respond to an evolving game state.

One of Hecker's biggest game design lessons was a notion explained to him by developer Jonathan Blow, which is the concept of 'listening to your game, not just your players,' as you're developing it.

Today, over on the Gamasutra Twitch channel, we were lucky enough to be joined by Hecker to discuss his experience making the game, and explore his game design process now that the game has been released on Steam's Early Access platform.Īs always, the full conversation is available for you to view up above, but in case you're listening for 'banana bread' as we speak, here's a few quick takeaways from our conversation.

Twitch spyparty