Infected Shelter Injects the Roguelike Genre With Zombies and Cooperative Gameplay [Exclusive Interview]
Infected Shelter is the fourth game from independent Hungary-based developer Dark Blue Games. It is a roguelike that injects itself with some unique elements like The Walking Dead-inspired zombies and full cooperative gameplay. It will be releasing on PC, Mac, and Linux first before coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One. We had the chance to briefly ask the developer some exclusive questions alongside the announcement of the game.
With so many 2D roguelike games coming out lately like most recently Dead Cells, it was key to know what sets Infected Shelter apart from those titles. Being developed entirely by only two people, it was intriguing to see what their take on the genre would be. They responded by letting us know this:
- Post-apocalyptic, but colorful environments (randomly generated)
- Fast-paced, violent and complex 2D brawler-like combat with lots of firearms and melee weapons (we have more than 60 weapons, a lot of ranged firearms)
- 150+ blueprints to unlock new weapons, clothes, skills, relics and RPG-like character improvements
- 50+ brutal, ultra-violent executions
- 50+ character traits
- 4 different playable characters
- Tons of guitars, wheelchairs, pets, drinks and one time used active items
- Co-op with up to 4 players
That was only the beginning, though. In the initial Infected Shelter press release, it is compared essentially as Dead Cells plus Castle Crashers. We had to know how games like Dead Cells and The Binding of Isaac inspired the creation of this upcoming roguelike zombie adventure. This is what Dark Blue Games’ Co-Founder Lajos Nadasi had to say:
“We started to development of Infected Shelter at the beginning of 2015. Our plan was to mix [rogue-lite] game features from Rogue Legacy and [The] Binding of Isaac with a complex 2D brawler-like combat system and the possibility of the co-op gameplay. When we tried the early access version of Dead Cells in 2017, we saw how they improved the skill tree upgrade system of Rogue Legacy into a more flexible blueprint upgrade system. We decided to mix the best parts of both system and this is the base of our current blueprint/permanent upgrade system where the players can find more than 150 blueprints to unlock new weapons, clothes, skills, relics and RPG-like character improvements.”
The roguelike inspiration wasn’t all, though. Dark Blue Games also gathered inspiration for its unique setting. As seen in the announcement trailer above, this setting eschews the fantasy or sci-fi setting of other games in the genre for a colorful post-apocalyptic world. Here’s where the inspiration for that came from:
“The Last of Us game and The Walking Dead series. We used their method that the infected people [are] not the only enemies in the world, but there are more dangerous military and raider groups who we have to fight. These groups also fight against each other and against the infected creatures. And also I remember one of our main inspiration was the Camp Lakebottom cartoon series. My kids watched it all the time in the year 2014. We liked their cartoon, funny zombie world.”
Don’t let Infected Shelter’s post-apocalyptic zombie setting fool you, as it is actually quite funny and colorful. The brutality and gore are done in such a way in the trailer that it actually comes off as refreshingly comical, instead of the seriousness seen in similar premises. VGR asked the developer if this was the intended tone for the game and this is what Dark Blue Games had to say:
“We wanted to mix the post-apocalyptic world with the crazy, funny brutality of the Happy Tree Friends cartoon series. Most of the post-apocalyptic games are gray and realistic; we tried to make a colorful, unrealistic cartoon world.”
For more on Infected Shelter, be sure to stay tuned right here. The roguelike local cooperative up to four player adventure releases first on PC, Mac, and Linux before arriving on all current consoles later.