At Nebula Games, Lucas was also watching how Don't Starve was doing.
Compared to his previous games, Don't Starve didn't perform that well.
First-day sales hit 230,000 copies, which didn't look great. After all, the game's price was low, they did some marketing, and Lucas isn't a nobody anymore — so this number wasn't impressive at all.
But Lucas didn't feel too disappointed because this time was very different. Don't Starve didn't launch on any other platforms.
Nebula Games also called it something most players weren't familiar with: a sandbox game.
All of this made many players wait and see. But one key point stood out: Don't Starve had a player rating of 9.6, which is insanely high.
Of course, that's partly because most early buyers were Nebula Games fans. Once more players join, the score will definitely drop a bit.
But as the first wave of players started spreading the word, more and more people became curious and bought the game.
When those new players joined and played for a bit, once they figured out how Don't Starve works, they were instantly hooked by its strange, amazing world.
"This is exactly the survival game I wanted! A true classic!"
"Yeah, I think this might be the most in-depth small game Lucas has made in years!"
"Agreed!"
"At the very least, this game is a real surprise. I didn't expect it to be this fun!"
Fans of Don't Starve kept praising the game.
And honestly, the way the game is designed really keeps players engaged.
First of all, you get a clear goal right after starting.
When players don't understand the deeper mechanics or playstyle of a game, they need a clear goal.
In a PVP game, the goal is simple: kill the enemy and win.
In PVE games, the goal is to beat the final boss and finish the story.
But Don't Starve is a sandbox game. When players don't even know what a sandbox game is, the game gives them one clear goal: survive as long as you can.
Once you have that goal, everything else branches out into more gameplay.
In Don't Starve, everything revolves around survival, which brings in all kinds of needs.
The idea that "if you die, you die" sounds obvious, but in Don't Starve, it's pushed to the extreme.
No food? You starve to death.
Too cold? You freeze to death.
If your sanity gets too low, you start hallucinating and get hunted by shadow creatures.
So to avoid starving, you need to find food. To avoid freezing, you need to build a house and make a heat stone.
And on top of that, there are dangerous monsters everywhere, and at certain times, there are monster raids.
That means you need weapons to defend yourself.
All of these create different short-term goals, all tied to survival.
Once players get familiar with these,
They can carve out a safe little corner for themselves in this dangerous world.
That's when the real game begins.
Because when players know they won't die if they do nothing, exploring a bigger world becomes their main goal.
To feel this living world.
This world runs by its own rules, from big changes like the seasons to small ones like day and night. Each season has its own traits.
For example, spring often brings endless rain. If you don't prepare an umbrella or rain hat, the high humidity will lower your body temperature and sanity, and if you're not careful, you'll end up dead.
And if you're really unlucky and hide under a tree during a thunderstorm, you might just get struck by lightning.
Summer comes with heat waves. Sure, it's a great season for drying meat quickly, but the constant high temperature can easily make you collapse from heatstroke.
Even the trees in the forest or equipment at your base can catch fire from the heat.
If you were unlucky enough to build your base too close together, one summer fire can quickly turn your camp into a pile of ashes.
As for winter, the scariest season, it's even harder to survive—not just because of the deadly cold.
Almost all crops stop growing except for trees, so without good preparation, you'll face a world with no grass, no twigs, and no food.
The desire to eat enough becomes so strong in winter that players truly feel the meaning behind the name "Don't Starve."
And the seasons affect more than just the weather—they even change how creatures behave.
For example, in spring, you'd better stay away from beefalo because spring is mating season.
Food also has a shelf life. After some time, it becomes stale and then spoiled, and if you leave it too long, it turns into rotten garbage.
As for fighting monsters, in traditional games it's all about having good gear and great skills.
But in Don't Starve, there are countless ways to deal with monsters.
You can make the best weapons and brew the best potions, then fight head-on.
Or you can go full trap master—cover an open field with traps, then dodge around while eating snacks, watching monsters flip and flop in your death maze.
You can even pull off a "let the beasts fight" strategy, making monsters attack each other while you sit back and pick up the loot.
And if you put items too close to the fire, they can burn. If you don't put it out in time, even your most valuable stuff will turn to ashes.
On top of that, randomly generated maps make sure every survival run feels like a new journey.
And just like most sandbox games, not counting official DLCs, player-made mods bring even more fun.
The workshop feature has already become a big part of the Nebula Games platform.
Don't Starve is no different. Some simple mods, like stat display or building alignment, which don't really affect balance, will even be released officially first by Lucas as a way to spark more player creativity.
After all, that's what makes sandbox games special—only when players take part can the game keep its life going and create endless new ways to play.
.........
But compared to normal players who are busy enjoying Don't Starve's gameplay, the game designers who have been watching the industry reacted much more strongly.
No designer would ever underestimate Lucas.
Up to now, Lucas has an impressive record.
Just last year and this year alone, the Dark Souls series was enough to shock a lot of people.
But Dark Souls is a game that's very hard to copy. Its worldwide success came from the overall quality, not just one special feature.
For example, the level design is absolutely brilliant.
But level design alone wouldn't have been enough.
The difficulty curve is also well-crafted, letting players feel the satisfaction of beating strong enemies step by step through effort.
But if it were only the difficulty curve, would Dark Souls have become what it is?
The answer is no.
It might have done okay, but it wouldn't have exploded like it did.
It's the combination of level design, difficulty curve, and the grand world and story.
All those elements mixed together made Dark Souls what it is today.
And the so-called "Souls-like" games? In the past, many players thought they were just about being hard. That's totally wrong.
Souls games aren't about one single thing—they're about the whole package.
That's why, even now, many designers envy Dark Souls and try to copy it, but none have made much impact, let alone matched its level.
But Don't Starve is a whole different story.
Its arrival made many designers feel the same way they did when Lucas first dropped Undertale after making those small 18+ games.
(End of The Chapter)
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