We talked with developer Brimstone about its Xbox achievement design and Early Access plans for Xbox Game Pass' newest addition, Overthrown!
Heidi Nicholas
Published
Overthrown achievements coming "for the full 1.0 release next year,” devs confirm
- Overthrown is Brimstone Interactive's unique take on city building combined with chaos
- Game Preview release date: December 5, 2024
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC
Overthrown has launched first into Game Preview. “With so many systems that interact in unpredictable ways in a sandbox game like Overthrown, it makes a lot of sense to see how players approach it and iterate on it over time with their feedback. It’s a very modular, flexible game and while we have a specific plan in mind for 1.0, there’s definitely room for changes,” Brimstone explains.
“Achievements will be implemented later for the full 1.0 release next year,” the Brimstone team adds, and talks us through Brimstone Interactive’s design process for the Overthrown achievements. “Generally, we would want to highlight unique things for the player to discover, rather than prioritizing grind.
“From a design perspective, we don’t really want to unnecessarily waste the player’s time, but would rather find opportunities to make them go ‘aha!’ for players who find easter eggs or intentional but not necessarily obvious strategies (like throwing creatures into bandit camps to have them fight each other for free loot).”
This all plays into the Brimstone team’s opinion of what makes for an ideal achievement list, which “should be focused around player curiosity and finding new ways to play (as opposed to time sinks).
The devs have already outlined plans for roughly a year of Early Access, “but that may vary depending on player feedback and how quickly we can update the game.”They already have “a lot in the works” for that Early Access roadmap, with “new creatures, fire, and mortars” to be added to the game as soon as late January. The Brimstone team elaborates on this, saying, "In coming updates we’re going to add, for example, fire and accidents, where damaged buildings have a risk of catching on fire which may spread to adjacent structures. If the fire reaches the Powder Mill it will even explode and completely level nearby structures in the blast!"
Other upcoming systems to be added to the game include pollution and deforestation, "where zones can turn to barren steppe from excessive mining, and forests can turn to grassland if too many trees are cut down too quickly. The player will have to spread out their settlement and consider long-term effects, as it will change what plants and resources become available or disappear over time."
Brimstone says "There are many systems like that which we’ll introduce with updates," with each system intended to be easily understood but which will in turn "set off a chain-reaction where as the city gets more complex there are more and more dependencies that can all come undone if an issue is left to escalate."
“On a longer horizon,” Brimstone continues, “we’d like to keep updating the game for years as long as there’s sufficient interest from players.”Brimstone also shared its thoughts on bringing Overthrown to Game Pass, and keep an eye out for our next Overthrown interview piece on the gameplay and more! Will you be throwing yourself into Overthrown? Let us know in the comments!
More Overthrown stories:
- Interview: Overthrown devs discuss new Xbox Game Pass release in depth
- Overthrown throws itself into the Xbox Game Pass library today
InterviewXbox Game PassPC Game PassXbox Series X|S
Heidi tends to lean towards indie games, RPGs, and open-world games on Xbox, and when not playing Disney Dreamlight Valley, happily installs every new wholesome game that appears on Xbox Game Pass, before diving back into favorites like The Witcher 3. She's looking forward to Age of Mythology Retold, Everwild, Fable, and Avowed on the Xbox horizon. Heidi graduated with an MA in English Literature before joining the TrueAchievements team.
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