Sunder-Dev Diary #1 - The Inspiration Behind Sunderfolk

Hi, I’m Erin Marek, Game Director on Sunderfolk. Since kicking off our closed beta back in December, we’ve been blown away by all the great feedback and questions in Discord.

These discussions inspired the team and me to share some insight into our approach to the game. Over the coming weeks, we’ll share some unique perspectives on our different disciplines, backgrounds, and how it all comes together to make Sunderfolk into a game we hope you, your friends, and your family will love.

To kick off these developer diaries, I’d like to dive into the early development of the game and some of the things we hope to accomplish through Sunderfolk.

Let’s rewind a bit to some of the earliest conversations around the game.

[h3]Kindling connection with familiarity [/h3]
When the team first started forming the initial concept of the game, one thing kept resurfacing again and again– how much we love the feeling of being together and playing tabletop board games with our friends and family. We set out to build something that inspired those same feelings through a video game experience.

Early concept art for Sunderfolk

At the time of those early brainstorms, Covid had made many of us feel isolated and alone, so there was a really strong desire to find a way to reconnect with those earlier days of just having fun together around the table or in couch co-op. The team started jamming on how we might create similar experiences through video games to make it a little easier for folks who aren’t as familiar with the genre.

Early pen & paper concept for Sunderfolk combat. See anything familiar?

[h3]Brightstone versus Shadowstone[/h3]
With the goal of bringing folks together, it was super important for us to make the world around Sunderfolk approachable and inviting for a wide audience. We aimed to strike balance between creating a lighthearted, whimsical world while still allowing for moments of depth and seriousness.

Our world is shaped by its underground setting, which heavily influenced the game’s themes and design. You’ll see plenty of bugs, mushrooms, stones, gems—elements that bring the environment to life. The overall story itself is another way we think about inviting players in, both novice and veteran.

A lot of fantasy stories revolve around a classic good-versus-evil dynamic, which is something we really liked because it’s instantly familiar and easy to grasp. This backdrop naturally influenced our take on the good-versus-evil theme, leading us to the central conflict of Brightstone versus Shadowstone.

Early concept art for the town of Arden

What we’d really love for folks to take away after they play Sunderfolk is excitement to play more board games and D&D and tabletop games, especially new folks who maybe haven’t played those kinds of games before.

For groups who have struggled to find the right game to play because it can be exhausting to set up a board game or for a GM to get content ready, we’re hoping that Sunderfolk can help reinvigorate their passion for revisiting those games.

I appreciate you all for taking the time to read this first developer diary! The next focus will be on how Sunderfolk was designed around collaboration and teamwork.

• Erin Marek, Game Director