Total Mayhem Games on the evolution of Games with Gold success story, We Were Here – TrueAchievements

We Were Here Forever has just been given a release window of Q2 2022, along with more information about the series' return to Castle Rock in this fourth instalment. Total Mayhem Games' co-founder and managing director, Lucia de Visser, and producer, Geoff van den Ouden, took the time to answer some of our burning questions about the mystery-filled co-op puzzle games inspiration, achievements, walkie-talkies, and more await...The first game in the series, We Were Here, initially launched onto PC in 2017, followed by We Were Here Too in 2018. In September 2019, Total Mayhem Games decided it was time to bring We Were Here to the Xbox platform. "We Were Here is a unique game series and practically a genre on its own. We really loved bringing the series to Xbox, but we also knew that because of its uniqueness we should make an effort to offer people a glimpse or taste of what the series is about," says the duo. "Fortunately, Xbox felt the same way and we came up with a joint strategy to get the Xbox community acquainted with We Were Here." The collaboration between the companies saw We Were Here enter as a Games with Gold title. "Within the first week, over a million people had downloaded We Were Here and players who had never heard of our franchise before, suddenly found this really fun co-op series to play with a friend. So yeah, it was really great to offer We Were Here to the community through Xbox Games with Gold."

The popularity of the series is due to the unique gameplay it offers, and just like any great game, inspiration was key in laying the foundations for things to come. "Weve always loved games like Myst, Portal 2, and Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. However, the thing that really got us on track to create an asymmetric puzzle game was some user tests we did with actually locking people up in a room with puzzles." This was the lightbulb moment that would later spawn the walkie-talkie mechanic for which the series is known, and the reason that players are split up when attempting to solve puzzles. "During these tests, we noticed that the experience was even more intense when the players werent physically in the same room and had to describe things to each other in order to help their partner progress or escape. That became the basic principle of the We Were Here series."

"At Total Mayhem Games we love the mystery around We Were Here, and we love that we have a fanbase that is actively trying to figure out what is going on in this castle," they say. "Our audience deserves more clarity on the narrative and what goes on in this creepy place." Those of you with a keen interest in the series might have worked out that the Jester in the trailer is a direct reference to We Were Here and We Were Here Too. You would be correct in that assumption, as We Were Here Forever tells the story of the explorers left behind in the first two games the return to Castle Rock doesn't mean there isn't plenty of mysterious goodies to uncover. "In We Were Here Forever, every player will get a far better idea of what is going on in Castle Rock," says the pair, also teasing "a special treat for the troopers that try to explore and retrieve all of the lore."

The walkie-talkie mechanic is a staple in the We Were Here series. It's the number-one most important feature that ensures you and your partner can communicate when solving puzzles. You can of course use Xbox Live Party Chat to easily chat to your partner, but that's no fun the walkie-talkie offers the most realised experience for the game, plus you get to say 'over' at the end of every sentence. "Once we had decided to make an asymmetric co-op puzzle game, we had two challenges: People had to communicate with each other while they werent in the same space, and we wanted to add a bit of tension and difficulty to the whole talking mechanism," they say. "It really gives you the feeling that you are an explorer trapped in a creepy castle with the walkie-talkie being your last resort, instead of you just playing some video game with a buddy from the comfort of your own home."

While the team creates achievements for the more casual players, it's important to them to create a list that caters to fine folks like yourselves that often want to unlock everything. "The 'I want to explore and do it all' player is the more interesting one to create achievements for. We love to reward them for all the extra effort they put into the game, but also, we dont want to make it too easy." When looking at the completion times here on TA for the three currently available games, you can see that Total Mayhem has consistently worked to add extra value with each title. We Were Here kicked off the series with a one-to-two-hour completion time, followed by We Were Here Too's two-to-three-hour estimate, and ending with We Were Here Together, which jumps right up to around six-to-eight hours. "We actually have a few speedrunners and achievement hunters in our beta crew who help us determine what would be the best pace to earn certain achievements. On top of that, we love to tease you to understand more of the mystery of Castle Rock in order to really get to 100% completion."

We Were Here Forever is set to launch sometime during Q2 2022, and you can be sure that we'll let you know when we have a solid date for it. Have you enjoyed the series so far? Excited for the next chapter? Let us know!

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Total Mayhem Games on the evolution of Games with Gold success story, We Were Here - TrueAchievements