sturdy, practical shelter.” Despite the
fact we never see Vermintide’s
characters living together, Taal’s
Horn Keep is a safe room that plays a
huge role in creating an implied
co-existence. Alongside the game’s
sparky dialogue, it fosters a strong
group dynamic, full of character
quirks and
backstory,
synonymous with
fantasy
adventure.
Safe rooms
affect a variety of
purposes—at
their most simple
they offer
temporary respite, but at their most
grand represent hubs of community
interaction and overarching narrative.
In many ways they are bittersweet,
insidious spaces whose existence
reminds players of the trials yet to
come. But this strange balance
reflects their true nature best of all.
Safe rooms are fixed points
straddling the gaming timeline—a
simultaneous reminder of all you’ve
done and are yet to do. But they also
represent a compact between player
and game: Out there we will throw
everything we have at you, but this
space is sacrosanct. Whether it’s a
keep of mismatched adventurers, a
room with a table and a typewriter,
or the den of a Slugcat, safe rooms
are the quiet before the storm.paintings, and movement puzzles.
But most of all, based on the game’s
inclusion and focus on class careers,
it features a room for each character.
“The characters’ rooms were really
fun to design, but we had to be wary
of not falling into typical fantasy
tropes. It would have been so easy to
do a magical
library for our
Bright Wizard,
defined by her
intellect, or to let
our Dwarf ’s room
be defined by his
height.” says
Setterberg.
“Instead, we
opted to design their rooms after
their personalities and character
traits. Sienna, being a Bright Wizard,
has a room reflecting her chaotic and
addictive relationship with magic.
Anything not sturdy enough in her
room is set on fire or destroyed. The
mercenary Kruber’s room is the most
human of them all, being very
homely and reflecting his desire to
come back to his farm and family.
Kerillian, the Wood Elf, is of course
found outside the Keep, but in aABOVE: Franz
Lohner, landlord of
the Red Moon, always
has a word or two for
the world-wearied.
RIGHT: Hollow
Knight’s benches
offer a consistency to
players, no matter
how deep they delve
into Hallownest.“THE CHARACTERS’
ROOMS WERE
REALLY FUN TO
DESIGN”more features being added and with
special events such as The Pub
Brawl, because as Magnuson
explains, “What better way to
celebrate than to get drunk and have
a fist-fight with your best friends?”
So when the time came to bid
farewell in Vermintide’s last mission,
Waylaid, the old place went out with
a bang. “The idea of having a surprise
attack on the Red Moon Inn was
something we had been kicking
around since the early days of
production and as Vermintide’s time
came to an end, we felt is was a
perfect way to surprise players,”
reflects Joakim Setterberg, level
designer. “The destruction of the Red
Moon Inn is in every way symbolic—
it ties in to the End Times narrative
that the enemy is never really
defeated, indeed growing stronger
with every setback.” But this rare
example of compromising a safe
room was a necessary element in
forwarding Vermintide’s community
narrative, and in re-situating players
in Vermintide 2’s wonderful base.
Taal’s Horn Keep is an incredibly
varied example of a safe room—a
sprawling gothic tower featuring
exploration, combat practice,
dialogue, crafting, trophies, treasure,
Safe Rooms
FEATURE
IT CAN’T RAIN ALL THE TIME
Karma creaturesRain World’s ‘Karma’ reflects a
progression based on your
actions during each cycle,
building toward a series of
end-game achievements.
Tame a lizard? You might get
‘The Friend’ achievement. Gain
a reputation with the
Scavengers? You might
become ‘The Chieftain’. Each
time you successfully
hibernate following a cycle,your base level also increases,
allowing you to access new
areas and progression, which
are often gated by a Karma
requirements. This not only
incentivizes survival, but
allows Rain World’s safe rooms
to act as a space where players
can reflect—whether upon
their actions, the events of
each cycle, or on their place
within the ecosystem.