Creating the Sci-fi Roguelike Shoulders of Giants

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Pre-order Shoulders of Giants today on the Xbox Store, available January 26

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After almost three years of development, we’re overjoyed to announce that Shoulders of Giants is now available for pre-order. The game will be released on January 26, 2023, on Xbox! Check out the newest trailer above featuring a mix of single-player and co-op mayhem.

One of the very first ideas we had when we started making Shoulders of Giants, was the silhouette of a smaller character riding on the back of a much bigger character. And then we thought, what if you could control both of these characters at once? How would that work? Would that be fun?

It took a lot of experimentation and prototyping to find the sweet spot, and an experience that felt fresh yet familiar. We thought, what if we split up types of combat between these characters, one character does all the melee, and is a big powerful mech? And the other character perched atop its back a small, nimble, gun wielding frog?

Once we found this combination, we knew we had found the core of the game. The next question we asked ourselves was, what type of world would these characters be in? What would their goal be in the game?

We have always been huge fans of science fiction, and knew we wanted a world where there was a dark force these heroes had to overcome, the classic theme of dark versus light.  But how could we actually take this theme and create an interactive way for the player to experience it?

We imagined after an intense boss battle having the entire world transform from barren and dark, to vibrant, lush and full of life in a cinematic way. We experimented with real-time ways the player could do this, and found it to be fun and exciting and it became a pillar of the players abilities.

Speaking of abilities, the last core idea behind the game was that we wanted Shoulders of Giants to feel like a colorful playground with a huge arsenal of sci-fi gadgets and weapons for the player to explore and tinker with.

Players encounter weapons and abilities like a firework-shooting grenade launcher, a giant stomping shoe, a surfable shield, and much more. The core combat is all about experimenting with different combinations of equipment to find that amazing combo that keeps things feeling fresh and exciting.

While combat is the main gameplay pillar, we knew that we wanted a story for the game to take place in and for the characters and world to feel grounded too. The forces of entropy have taken over the universe, it is the players job to combat this dark force and to restore order and balance back to the universe.

As you beat more levels and save more worlds from the forces of entropy, you will build up your heat meter, allowing you to access increasingly difficult levels. As you pass certain heat thresholds, you will unlock special story boss encounters as you make your way to the final boss.

Along the way, you will acquire new weapons for both Froggie and the heroic Robot of the Galaxy as well as new pieces of armor, XP to spend on your skill tree, and dyes to further customize the look of your characters.

While you can customize your own frog and robot with dozens of cosmetics that are unlockable in-game, the four above can only be acquired as a bonus for pre-ordering the game:

This pre-order bonus includes four color sets, so you and up to three co-op friends can save the universe in style right from the start of the game.

Even better, the game is 20% off during this pre-order period. For more information, check out the game’s store page and official website, or join our discord.