Hidden Gems of Game Design Volume 28

Plenty of amazing games go unnoticed and are not played widely for various reasons. Maybe it’s a diamond in the rough, or the marketing wasn’t there, or it could be a game ahead of its time. For this monthly series, I’ve asked my fellow writers on SUPERJUMP to pick a game they think is deserving of a chance in the spotlight. Let us know your favorite hidden gems in the comments.

Josh Bycer

Quester series (2023-On)

Dungeon crawling is one of my favorite kinds of RPG and there have been many unique takes out of Japan over the past 30 years. One that many people may not be aware of is Quester that is developing a cult following. Using world and enemy design by manga artist Kazushi Hagiwara, each game takes place in post-apocalyptic Tokyo following the collapse of everything and monsters now roaming the city. You play as a group of traveling adventurers called Questers who are trying to make a living one day at a time exploring the ruins of the city. If you’re hoping for sprawling environments and highly detailed characters, this is not that game. You essentially have the map screen, battle screen, character and inventory management, and that’s it.

This is a series that knows who the audience is for it – people who want to solve the puzzle of how to beat the dungeon. To wit, you are given up to 24 characters spread across 8 classes to build your party out of. Classes determine stats and stat gain on level, and each character will get different perks as they level up. Stats determine what weapons and gear will work best for the character, as they modify the outgoing damage based on them. Perks can do anything – give the character permanent bonuses, unlock skills and more.

Here’s the trick – you do not get to decide what your party will be. At the start of a new game, the game will randomly give you a starting party that will be of an even spread of classes. During play, which characters can show up will be entirely random; forcing you to roll with different combinations. Gear is rated based on rarity with the higher rarity weapons confering more passives and active skills you can use in combat. 

The combat in Quester is designed to be fast. You assign up to three actions per character per turn, and the game will auto target enemies accordingly. Higher damage is important, as if you can’t beat the enemy’s defensive value, your attack will get canceled, and why buffing and debuffing is handy if your party is built around it. The map itself is not randomly generated, but all treasures and enemy drops are. Given the random grouping of characters, you are meant to have different ways of winning. In one playthrough, my entire strategy hinged on one character tanking everything while the party debuffed, poisoned, and burned the enemy to death. Since resources restore after each fight, the game is built on you figuring out “your strategy” and running with it.

The series is all about providing an easy to expand template with a focus on new game +. In NG+, you’ll be able to find more gear and more characters. At the moment, there is no carry over between games, with the second one: Osaka acting as a prequel to the story.

Given the formula, the developers have released a sequel in 2024 which adds a few more characters and sea exploration, but keep everything else mostly the same. I expect to see more from the studio given that they have fallen into a groove with their dungeon crawling. The one caveat is that because this is a japanese developer, when each game is released, it is not translated into English, and they have done kickstarters to raise the funding for an English translation. While it may not be for everyone, if you’re like me and looking for more dungeons to crawl into, then definitely check them out.

Taylor D. Levesque

Gylt (2019)

Gylt is a seemingly little-known game originally exclusive to Google Stadia, but has since broadened its horizons. It became available on Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in July 2023, and came to Nintendo Switch March 14, 2024.

With its Burton-esque dark cartoony style, we follow Sally along in her journey to find her lost cousin in a world painted with its Silent Hill and Alan Wake inspirations. This game played like an introductory to survival horror, but without a whole lot of explicit imagery or language. It had a very clear and strong message focusing on the effects of bullying and the impact it can have on victims.

One of the things that really stood out to me with this game was how it gave the player a choice: face your fear and fight, or run and hide to avoid the danger. There are a lot of resources to be found throughout the game and running out of anything never felt like a concern. Having the option to stealth through the game is sometimes still the better option though, especially when the monsters like to gang up on you all at once. Your weapon is mainly a flashlight, but the combat mechanics surrounding this can sometimes feel a little clunky when you’re trying to aim the beam.

This is overall a fairly easy game, and well-suited to younger audiences that like the darker themes, or to people who are trying to get into survival horror but want to dip their toes in instead of taking a nose-dive into something outside of their comfort zone. Even if you scare easy, this game really isn’t too bad. Most of the dark factor is set in the atmosphere as opposed to being reliant on jumpscares. If you’re thinking about trying out the horror genre, this is the perfect entry-level game to give it a shot with – and you’ll still be able to sleep at night!

Antony Terence

Dino Island (2002)

Modifying dinosaur DNA is an impressive feature in a tycoon sim from 2002. But due to how barebones the rest of Dino Island is, developer Monte Cristo couldn’t keep up with games like Microsoft’s Zoo Tycoon. Looking back, the game’s dull personality is a world apart from its whimsical promotional videos. 

In Dino Island, you take on the role of a genetic engineering scientist tasked with creating dinosaurs and studying them. Somewhere along the way, the project shifts to revenue generation, adding a light amusement park-building aspect to the game. 

A quick comparison between Dino Island and Zoo Tycoon makes it clear which game is worth your time. Unlike the latter’s menus packed with helpful information, Dino Island merely lets you place enclosures for dinosaurs and stalls to accommodate visitors’ preferences. You don’t get to mess around with the terrain, foliage, and environments of these enclosures. And that’s a shame since the dinosaurs look great for the time thanks to 3D character models. 

This is integral to Dino Island’s best feature: cloning and modifying 20 species of dinosaurs. These mechanics let you create 50 new variants that share some characteristics with their parents. Changes include physical traits like horns and stats like agility or strength. The game encourages experimentation, even if some things just aren’t meant to be morally put together. Some win conditions require dinos with specific stats, which could influence races and obstacle courses organized for your visitors. The loot box-like thrill of waiting for a dinosaur egg to hatch was thrilling as a kid.

Outside the cloning aspect, making money via shops and entertainment isn’t particularly engaging. The drum-focused soundtrack is overpowered by mild tourist chatter and dinosaur noises, giving an eerie vibe to your park. Even the interface to add dinos and structures felt clunky compared to Zoo Tycoon’s neat menus. While this is no glowing recommendation, Dino Island is an interesting glimpse into one of the first tycoon games to implement 3D character models.