Relaxing. Pure joy. Peaceful and full of love.
These words sound totally fine on their own.
But coming out of Lucas's mouth, they made people a bit nervous.
After all, Outlast and Overcooked had already proven how that could go.
He once called Overcooked a wholesome, cooperative game.
But it ended so many friendships.
And the official blog even tried to spin it with what sounded like a very reasonable explanation.
Now online, players were saying Lucas was the ultimate smooth talker.
And here he was again, saying the same kind of stuff.
Hard to take seriously, right?
"Don't let all the chatter online mess with your head. We're all adults here, we should be able to think for ourselves." Lucas said with a smile, watching their reactions.
Everyone nodded on the outside, but inside, they were thinking:
Exactly, we are thinking for ourselves — and the players are totally right!
But they didn't have long to dwell on that, because what Lucas showed next quickly caught their attention.
"A game-show-style challenge? Like Boys and Girls Go Forward, the kind of summer programs you see on local TV stations?"
Looking at the main gameplay setup of Fall Guys, Rachel—who often watched variety shows—was the first to speak.
"But there's one difference. Those shows usually have one person going at a time, and they're ranked by how fast they finish. This one, though, has everyone going in together."
"Real life and games are definitely different. In real life, too many people on one track might cause people to get trampled, especially when the challenge needs a lot of physical strength. But in a game, it's not a problem."
"Still, won't it feel too chaotic with 60 people?"
As they looked at the game's design draft, people began whispering and discussing among themselves.
Clearly, the concept draft for Fall Guys had taken them by surprise.
"Alright, quiet down, everyone. Let me go over the main ideas behind this game." Lucas tapped the table with his hand and looked at everyone.
"First, the game's focus—it's a casual, fun mini-game collection styled like a game show. The art should feature exaggerated characters, funny movements, bright and bold colors. The background music needs to be super cheerful, so players feel relaxed while playing."
"As for the game's physics, go for something more over-the-top—even unrealistic. That'll make it more fun to watch and easier to go viral later."
As Lucas broke down the key points of Fall Guys, the team grew more and more excited.
Especially Hector and the other longtime staff—they felt at ease.
Because just like Outlast and Overcooked, both Legends of the Three Kingdoms and Fall Guys had something in common.
They were both already highly polished—even in the early concept stage. From the art, to level design, to core gameplay, everything was already mapped out.
Very clean and clear—just from hearing and seeing the concept, people already had a clear picture in their minds.
"The next step is on the marketing side. Ethan, Zhao Mo—you guys handle marketing and operations. Give me two separate plans. Legends of the Three Kingdoms will be a long-term free-to-play game with in-app purchases to build user loyalty."
"Fall Guys, on the other hand, is meant to blow up fast. So I want a separate marketing plan just for that too."
Lucas turned to Ethan and Mark, who had recently joined Nebula Games as the head of operations.
They both nodded in agreement.
From Lucas's explanation, it was pretty easy to tell the basic goals of each game.
Fall Guys would be a paid game, but in Lucas's eyes, it was meant to be a "fast burn"—something that would quickly gain attention and users, and then make money fast. Like playing the short game in the stock market.
Legends of the Three Kingdoms, though, was for the long run. Its goal was to keep users coming back. The free-to-play with in-app purchases model gave the game a sense of long-term investment, making players less likely to quit.
Because the two games had different goals and styles, their marketing strategies needed to be completely different too.
"As for the third game, that's not a focus right now. This convention is mostly to show off and build hype. We won't be releasing it anytime soon." Lucas didn't bother sugarcoating it—since everyone here was on the inside, he kept it direct.
As for the third folder, Lucas didn't even bother opening it. It really was just a folder.
"Rachel and Anna, you stay. Hector too. The rest of you, go over the two game design drafts carefully. Write down anything you're unsure about, and we'll go over it in the next meeting."
As Lucas finished speaking, the rest of the team got up and returned to their desks.
Looking at Rachel, Anna, and Hector, Lucas continued, "Aside from these two games, there's also a bigger project coming up. I'll be writing the scripts and storyboards for the CG animation part. Rachel, you'll follow up on that."
"Anna, I'll also write the lore and worldbuilding. That part will be on you. Hector, once you finish the action system for Fall Guys, start working on an action demo for the new project. Get used to it early, so you don't have to start from scratch later."
Lucas handed out the tasks as he spoke.
They all nodded in agreement.
For Rachel, Anna, and Hector, the Fall Guys and Legends of the Three Kingdoms projects didn't involve much work on their end for now.
.........
With the Fall Guys and Legends of the Three Kingdoms teams set up, Nebula Games quickly kicked into high gear.
And while these two games were being developed,
The game industry saw some interesting things pop up too.
First was the indie game scene. After the huge success of Overcooked, a lot of smaller studios and indie developers rushed to release similar co-op games.
But the result was no surprise—none of them really made much of a splash.
That's because with this kind of game, if you don't have a strong, clear core idea, it's hard to grab players' attention.
Take Overcooked for example—its main hook was the tension and chaos in teamwork.
It became a meme through videos and livestreams—leading to the famous "breakup game" joke—and that helped the game go viral again.
But that kind of hook isn't something you can copy just by making a co-op game.
It goes deep into the level design and the way the gameplay is balanced.
If the balance isn't right and the game's too easy, then talk of "breaking up over it" is obviously nonsense.
But if it's too hard, players won't break up either — they'll just join forces to curse the game and call it trash.
Clearly, those games missed the point.
And naturally, they didn't stir up much attention.
(End of The Chapter)
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