When Blizzard Entertainment veterans including Mike Morhaime, Chris Sigaty and Alan Dabiri left the company behind Warcraft and Starcraft to found a up-to-date studio, Dreamhaven, in 2020, Morhaime promised that his up-to-date company would be able to “unite people regardless of background and borders.” Its founders say Dreamhaven will create up-to-date, positive social experiences.
Haven of Dreamswhich includes two studios: Moonshot Games and Secret Door, since then there has been relative peace. On Thursday, one of the development teams finally revealed what they’ve been doing for the past four years: Secret Door is making a game called Healthy peoplean ambitious, cooperative tactical adventure video game built with the love of board games.
Healthy people is inspired by board games such as Gloomhaven and Dungeons & Dragons, said Secret Door CEO (and avid board game enthusiast) Chris Sigaty at a recent hands-on event in New York City. Creators in the back Healthy people were inspired by the depth and inclusive nature of these games, while recognizing their flaws.
“We worked on games like StarCraft, Heroes of the StormAND Hearthstone” said Sigaty, “and one of the things we realized early on was that we didn’t want to start with a competitive game. Even though we love this space and are very knowledgeable in it, we wanted to focus on something that brings connection and collaboration. We found that our most bonding time was spent at the board game table, playing things like Dungeons & Dragons and all kinds of board games, and our passion was in the board game space.”
However, as Sigaty admitted, many board games require reading broad instructions combined with long set-up and crash times. In a card-based strategic table game such as Gloomhaven Or Frosthavenup-to-date players can spend hours unpacking boxes, learning the rules, and cleaning up, rather than spending that time actually playing the game.
WITH Healthy peopleSecret Door hopes to eliminate these obstacles to play.
Healthy people is designed to be played on a gigantic TV screen or monitor, and the game itself runs on a PC or console. One to four players enjoy the game via an app running on a mobile device, similar to Jackbox games. This setup means that almost anyone can play because all the rules of the game run on the computer and virtually everyone knows how to utilize the touchscreen to navigate the application.
IN Healthy peopleplayers choose one of six anthropomorphic heroes: Arcanist, Bard, Berserker, Pyromancer, Hunter or Rogue. (More are planned as DLC, developers say). Each character has their own strategic role and passive abilities, and can be customized with weapons, armor, trinkets, and skills. Each character’s skill set is represented by cards, and players can personalize their deck of skill cards as they progress to create a well-rounded team.
No matter how good your deck of cards or team composition is, like any good tabletop game, how things turn out depends on luck. Healthy people. Each time a player uses a skill, they will also have to play their Fate Card, which may affect the effectiveness of their move. It’s a bit like a 20-sided die in D&D; some throws may have positive effects, while others may have negative effects. Interestingly, the Fate Card is customizable – you can choose Which negative and positive effects you can cast, gaining up-to-date options as you progress Healthy peoplehistory.
On the main screen, the tactical strategy action takes place on a hex-based board. On the phone, I navigated this hexagonal grid by swiping on the touchscreen, selecting cards to attack, and confirming my moves through an intuitive interface. The game master guided us through what was happening on screen and via text messages on our phones.
During my hands-on experience with the game, I played as a Pyromancer (a very cute salamander) who could throw fireballs and jump around the board to attack enemy ogres and skeletons. My Pyromancer can shoot columns of fire in a straight line or emit an area blast. The licks of flame I left in my salamander’s path could hurt enemies and strengthen my allies.
My Pyromancer was joined by Sigaty’s Berserker, a polar bear who could punch and throw enemies and who flew into a massive rage at the fires I lit on the board; and Dabiri the Bard, a bat who could charm enemies and allies alike through the power of music to get them to move across the board. Bard also created various buffs on the battlefield, reducing health, armor and damage bonuses.
As a trio, we discussed strategies to optimize our turns and how to best position ourselves on the board. Unlike Dungeons & Dragons, there is no “initiative” that determines the order of turns during combat; we could choose any order to best maximize our team’s potential. There is also no division of loot and gold Healthy peopleso we would also jockey for position, trying to snatch the treasure before anyone else in the group could get it.
Promise Healthy people he showed himself in these moments. We talked, debated and planned. Sometimes we would get up, go to the TV and visualize our strategy, pointing out the monsters we thought we could defeat and considering other possible threats on the board. I looked at Sigaty and Dibari to verify my theories about the flow of a move or series of moves, but the game does a great job of explaining its rules.
Typically a board game with a set of rules and complexity Healthy people it would require an experienced game master to get this to work. While the game itself ensures that everything will run smoothly, Secret Door has a solution for another game master task: storytelling.
Secret Door has hired Anjali Bhimani – the actress behind Symmetra and Overwatch Apex LegendsRampart – out clamorous Healthy peoplegame master. Bhimani fills this role like a true game master: not only does he narrate the events of the story, but he also voices every non-player character in the game, alternating between different vocal styles to suit the game’s anthropomorphic cast of animals.
Healthy peopleThe game takes place in a fantasy world that has been devastated by an event known as the Sundering. The cataclysm drove the animal population underground, where they took refuge in a city known as Arden. This underground house is the heroes’ base of operations; between missions, they can talk to the inhabitants of Arden, forming friendships, alliances, and even developing romances. In Arden, players will be able to take a break from the battle by purchasing up-to-date equipment, customizing their equipment, and finding up-to-date tasks.
While the battles above ground in Sunderlands can be intense, players will have the chance to rest and relax in Arden. Maybe I’ll even take a bathroom break. Arden classes take place on a mobile app and offer some role-play opportunities.
Healthy peopleThe phone app has another clever app. While most group action takes place on a shared screen, players will occasionally receive private secret messages from the game master on their mobile devices. These interactions include the ability to name things in the game world – early in my practice, the game master asked me if I could name a up-to-date type of enemy we encountered, ogre archers. I typed “Bowgres” and that’s what they were called for the rest of the game. In another instance, I was informed over the phone that there might be a secret treasure in a corner of the level; I was encouraged to go for it and it was up to me to tell my teammates about it.
The secret door is calling Healthy people “a streamlined alternative to traditional board games,” promising to make “playing and having fun together will be more accessible than ever.” Sigaty and the team hope this will aid players who haven’t played board games “rediscover game night” or encourage those interested in board games to experience the game for the first time.
Healthy people is scheduled to release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X sometime in 2025 as a premium paid game. The companion/control app for Android and iOS will be free, and players will be able to quickly join the game by scanning a QR code. Although it is intended to be played in person, Healthy people you can also play remotely via Discord and Zoom thanks to the app’s interface.
If Healthy people could “bring back game night” and change the aversion to board games – gaming sessions could consume several hours – remains to be seen. But Secret Door’s debut game is already incredibly addictive and fun, and may just expose a whole up-to-date audience to the charms of the genial board game.
