Founder of Ember Arcade on Creating the Roguelite RPG Game AfterQuest

Introduction

Hello readers! My name is Chad MacDonald. I am the founder of Ember Arcade. Officially, Ember Arcade is just me, but I work with some incredibly talented contractors who are helping me bring AfterQuest to life. 

Ember Arcade and its first game, AfterQuest, are actually my very first foray into video games. Previous to this, I ran a product design and marketing agency for close to fifteen years. When the agency became quite large, I found myself doing less of the creative work I enjoyed and more immersed in financial planning, operations, and administration, which drained me completely.

So I left and decided I needed to do something new. Something where I needed to learn and stretch my creative side. I have always been obsessed with video games and have admired the industry from afar. I nervously circled the idea of creating my own game for a few months and finally convinced myself, if not now, when? A few weeks later, Ember Arcade was born.

AfterQuest

I think the best way to understand the vision of AfterQuest is to go through the games that impacted me throughout my life. I have always been a huge fan of fantasy RPGs. I loved turn-based RPGs like Final Fantasy (9 and 10 being my favourites), Chrono Trigger, and Dragon Quest, ARPGs like Diablo 2 and Dark Alliance, and then later, like many, became completely absorbed in World of Warcraft. More recently, I fell in love with many roguelite games such as Slay the Spire and Hades. I feel there are forms of inspiration pulled from all of these.

Mechanically, I think what makes AfterQuest stand out will be the three-hero party. The build craft and synergies that open up from having a three-hero party are enormous. On top of the usual buildcraft that comes from a roguelite game, now you can build synergies between party members as well. Maybe you have built a Mage around fire damage abilities that spread burning damage over time, affecting multiple enemies.

The Paladin class has abilities with modifiers that deal increased damage to burning enemies. With 5 available heroes (Warrior, Paladin, Mage, Hunter, Druid), each with dozens of abilities, ability modifiers, and gear choices, I think players will have a ton of fun finding ways to combine them all. Ultimately, though, I hope what will make AfterQuest stand out is players feeling the passion I’ve poured into this game.

Experience of the Game

At its core, AfterQuest is a turn-based roguelite RPG where you build a team of three heroes and battle through procedurally generated dungeons. You combine abilities, stack modifiers, and create powerful builds to defeat bosses and push deeper each run.

A typical run starts with assembling your party. You pick three heroes from five available classes, each bringing completely different abilities. You choose a quest and start on your campaign. Early battles feel manageable while you’re testing ability combinations, picking up gear, and figuring out your build direction.

Then the difficulty ramps, and suddenly those synergies you've been layering start to matter. When a build clicks (when your Druid's setup enables your Hunter to unload massive damage on a staggered boss), that's the feeling I'm chasing.

Players who love building out a party of classic fantasy RPG classes, leveling them up, gearing them out, and unleashing those builds on enemies and bosses will love this game.

The Art Style

I've always been drawn to art styles that age well. Games like Wind Waker still look incredible today because they rely on strong artistic direction rather than technical fidelity. Pixel art is one of those ageless styles in my eyes. Outside of pixel art, I'd say the games that inspire the visual direction the most are Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft. Sitting on my work desk is a copy of The Art of Warcraft.

I'm sure, like many long-time WoW players, I have had ups and downs with my time in the game, but one thing that always hit hard was the art. I think it influenced me the most. The funny thing about the art style is that I had this naive belief that doing pixel art would be the easiest path for my first game. I've since learned that great pixel art is very challenging, especially as I wanted everything to be truly hand-drawn.

Dungeon Crawler

The term "dungeon crawler" can mean different things to different players. For me, and ultimately for AfterQuest, it means adventuring through randomly generated dungeons in search of better and better loot while battling various enemies and bosses. That's the core of AfterQuest. What I hope AfterQuest brings that's entirely its own is a quest-driven structure delivered through interesting characters.

Every time you start a run, and as you move from area to area, you are given quest objectives. So when you enter Millcrest Forest, a cranky old farmer might ask you to free prisoners who have been captured by goblins. A former blacksmith's apprentice may need you to gather weapons to help free their lands. Every floor of a dungeon is a quest with its own tale.

Narrative

One of the reasons I fell in love with Hades was how it was able to use the roguelite formula to tell a meaningful story. I knew right from the start that I wanted narrative to be a considerable part of AfterQuest. Being "character-driven" means I want players to get to know the individual characters within AfterQuest.

Not just the heroes, but the major bosses and quest NPCs as well. This is all driven through dialogue between characters. There's an overarching plot, but the heart of the experience is the characters themselves.

Combat Dynamic

There will be many layers to the strategy in AfterQuest. First will be how you build your party, which abilities you chose, which modifiers of those abilities you chose, and how you gear them out. Next, during combat encounters, outside of the obvious when to heal/when to dispel debuffs, etc., there will be opportunities to manipulate the flow of battle.

These come from three key systems. A stagger system allows you to "break" an enemy by dealing damage of a type the enemy is weak to. Broken enemies are stunned and take extra damage. You can take extra advantage of this through the boost system. Any ability with a mana cost can be boosted. A boosted ability uses more mana for extra damage, perfect for finishing off a broken enemy.

Enemy abilities can also be interrupted. Certain enemy abilities have a delayed cast, and you can see in the turn order when that cast will land. Some player abilities can interrupt these casts, but have a cooldown. Do you interrupt this ability? Or do you cast a defensive ability to mitigate that damage and save your interrupt for later? The goal is to provide a large variety of threats and the tools to respond.

To make the turn-based combat feel fast-paced, I'm focusing on two main elements. The first is the UI. AfterQuest uses an ARPG or MMO-type interface, so no traditional turn-based RPG menus. The second is the animations. Each ability animation is beautifully hand-drawn, but is designed to be very quick. Fast, fluid, and thoughtful. That's the goal.

Development Process

Honestly, the entire process has been surprising. I think the biggest is the sheer amount of decisions that need to be made during development. I have such a new appreciation for the games I already loved now that I understand the thousands of micro decisions that are required across every aspect of the game.

The other element that really jumps out, and I don't know if this is just me, or if this is common, but the roller coaster of emotions has been a lot to get used to. One day, I can feel like I don't know what the heck I'm doing, the next day I feel everything I touch turns to video game gold. And those two feelings can happen on the same day.

One minute, a new ability feels lackluster, and I'll obsess over tweaking the animation to no avail, then I add the right sound effect, and it all comes together. I am getting better at trusting the process and not panicking until all aspects of a particular feature are implemented.

Conclusion

I think every person's journey will be different. Mine of: running and growing a business for fifteen years, selling that business, and then starting a game company is probably not the most transferable advice. I think realistic advice would be to honestly assess your own reality and make your plans around that. What skills can you bring to the table, and what areas will you need support with? Can you afford to go full-time, or do you need to build over a longer period after your day job?

For me, I knew that creative direction and art direction were my natural talent, so I built a support system around that. I also knew that I had the resources and runway to go all in full-time. I also knew that there was so much surrounding bringing a video game to market that I needed to learn that finding a publisher was the right path for me. But each individual will need to build their plan accordingly.

If there was one thing I would develop regardless of your path, it would be a discerning eye, or gut. Being able to feel when something works and when something doesn't will be a resource that will only become more valuable. I think the best resource to build that eye/gut/intuition is to play a ton of games, and not just the popular ones. If your game idea exists in a particular genre, play as many games in that genre as you can.

Pay close attention to how you are feeling when playing those games. Are you bored or frustrated by one? Pause and reflect on why that might be. Being able to discern when something is clicking, when something "feels" right, is a powerful tool.

For now, the best way for players to show their support would be to wishlist AfterQuest on Steam. I will be doing more to better build up a community around the game soon, but right now, my time is best spent obsessing over how to make the game as good as it can be.

Chad MacDonald, Founder of Ember Arcade

Interview conducted by Emma Collins