"MTG is one of the big inspirations": dev_hell developers discuss inspirations, objectives, corporate culture, and more (Exclusive)

I’m a sucker for a cool deckbuilder, and dev_hell scratches the itch with an interesting concept, with something many people are familiar with: development hell. Thankfully, you don’t have to be a programming expert to feel at home playing this, according to developers Don Westendorp (Game Director) and Del Sharratt (Creative Director). Roguelite deckbuilders are always an interesting experience, and it can often feel hard to do something different in that genre.

However, dev_hell certainly seems to have done exactly that. While it’s still in development, it aims to let players flex their creativity, while also coming up against deadlines and other stressful coding challenges. It promises to be a genuinely interesting title, and here’s what the developers have to say about it.

Don: dev_hell is a first-person roguelike deckbuilder where you take on the role of a newly hired software developer at an intensely ambitious but ambiguously-intentioned startup company. Over the course of each run, you must build a deck to complete “coding challenges” and defend your reputation at the company to avoid getting fired.

Important note: there is no real coding in the game. dev_hell is purely a card game meant to parody the struggle of working in the tech industry, not to literally force the experience upon you in any real way, shape, or form.

Del: We wanted to develop a game that motivates replayability and has potential for deeply complex mechanics. But we also wanted to be able to create an immersive and engaging environment that would support a compelling narrative. In recent years, roguelikes have seen major success, especially in situations where games have broken format in order to tell stories throughout and beyond the runs.

Hades,