Sailor Moon meets Shakespeare: the design philosophies of magic girl RPG This Way Madness Lies
This Way Madness Lies mingles community Shakespeare plays and magical girls, having you travel to dimensions based on the Bard’s works in order to duke it out in fast, but challenging turn-based battles. I don’t recall a giant plant in Romeo and Juliet, but given the light humor of the world and its heroines, I was inclined to accept this new interpretation.
Game Developer had a chat with Robert Boyd of Zeboyd Games to talk about how the game was shaped by a desire to make something his kids could play, how they delve into character using the abilities of the heroines, and how off-beat gameplay ideas can help give you an edge in a crowded game space.
This Way Madness Lies (TWML) ties Shakespearean theater and magical girls together. Can you tell us a bit about how this idea came about? What made you feel these elements would work well together?
One of my favorite series is Persona which has a lot of similarities to the magical girl genre. There aren't many actual magical girl video game series out there, though, and most of what exists is aimed at older otaku. So, I wanted to make one that was fun for all ages so that my kids could enjoy it too.
Most magical girl shows have some sort of theme and my wife suggested Shakespeare since there are a lot of strong women in his plays.
You mentioned that you were looking to create something your kids could enjoy—that audiences of all ages could have fun with. How did that affect how you designed the game, story, and combat?
It's a combination of making sure that the lowest difficulty is very easy, it's hard to get stuck (no permanent character build decisions), and staying away from anything overly inappropriate. That doesn't mean we sanitize the content though—after all, a lot of
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