Monster Train 2

Why Breaking Conventions Makes Better Games | Design Club Live

Intentional subversion of established design conventions serves as a critical catalyst for innovation, allowing developers to differentiate their titles and deepen player engagement.

• Breaking established game conventions is a powerful design tool to prevent repetition, particularly in roguelikes where players must engage with the same core loop over many runs.
• Effective rule-breaking often involves creating specialized mechanics for specific character classes or factions, such as Monster Train's 'Luna' clan which uniquely manipulates even and odd turn cycles.
• Designers must distinguish between 'specialization' (e.g., a specific character having unique movement abilities) and true 'rule-breaking' (e.g., fundamentally altering game-wide resource or turn-order mechanics).