Recently, we've started to make the first versions of Let it Boom with co-op. And it took us one session to understand that we're making a completely different game now. And while that understanding has only come now, but probably at the exact moment we needed it. The co-op mode has nothing we had built for the game before, apart from the core stuff – you can move, throw bombs and destroy objects. In the very first version, the bombs didn't even explode ( ⚆ _ ⚆ ) [img]https://i.imgur.com/OEabhzZ.gif[/img] But even playing this minimal version with a few team members, we discovered there's plenty to do on the go - tossing a burning bomb between each other (basically hot potato), king of the mountain and other stuff. The result of our experiments was the idea that people might not need too much to have fun together. The game should have simple gameplay systems that can be combined to create physical impact (we are making a physical sandbox game, after all). What comes to mind is, of course, the well-known Garry's Mod. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42681883/56fb8b5b3947552f489a07ac89c15cf7437a085e.png[/img] In such sandbox projects, the main fun comes from creating weird and absurd situations and game modes, such as Prop Hunt (which exists in many forms, from Garry's Mod to Team Fortress 2 or Call of Duty 4 and others). [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42681883/31b5812085ad63d40c6a4956942b807cefc341e7.png[/img] In the end, the physical sandbox serves as at least two places at once, a place for fun and a theatrical stage. From the point of view of gameplay experience, the sandbox is an eccentric game and a performance in which the demonstration of physically obscure funny things (look what I can do!) is the main goal. [img]https://i.imgur.com/OVF0iHa.gif[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/SHcai66.gif[/img] We're rethinking the concept of the game to lean towards the experience I described above. And while we'll still have a mode for players who like well-staged and explained quests and puzzles, I suspect the most fun and important role will be played by the free-roaming sandbox mode, with a number of gameplay systems that allow players to do silly things to each other or the environment. Some of the fun things we have in mind so far are ball baskets, trolleys on rails, barrels/boxes to hide in and giant ancient cannons. See you next time!