Crimson Moon is a game for people who don't have time

Modern adult gamers face a constant battle between their deep passion for video games and the harsh reality that life comes with responsibilities. The industry is flooded with massive, bloated open-world games that require hundreds of hours of mundane grinding just to see the headlines spin. In direct defiance of this exhausting trend is the upcoming dark fantasy action RPG Crimson Moon it is developed specifically for people with very little time to spare.

I recently interviewed MaybeMonsters Chief Product Officer Mark Subotnick and Crimson Moon director David Lesperance about the game, during which the Lesperances discussed how they plan to reach players who are bound by time. Based on what he told me, it seems like their ambitious high-renaissance gothic action-adventure RPG was deliberately designed to respect the limited schedule of mature audiences without sacrificing top-notch triple-A or mechanical depth. By removing unnecessary friction in the progression loop, MaybeMonsters has created an experience that adapts to busy lives, rather than requiring complete subjugation.

Designing Crimson Moon for players with limited time

The character Crimson Moon stomps on the monster

In designing an ambitious dark fantasy game like Crimson Moon for an audience that faces a severe time crunch, perhaps the two most important elements for developers to consider are its onset and narrative pace. Rather than loading up the experience with massive lore dumps that distract players from actually playing, immediate engagement becomes the top priority. Lesperance emphasized that respecting the player's time means allowing world-building to unfold naturally during active play, rather than stopping the action cold:

One of the things I love about games is being able to learn as I go. We want the players to understand right from the start, this is what's going on, so we're giving a pretty good exposition of the game, but we're not going to sit the player through 100 hours of cut scenes. This game is not like that. It's about being in the game, fighting, working together, and then learning about the world as you go. And for me, those have always been the games I like the most.

This approach will ultimately mean the most to players who may only have thirty minutes to play after work, school, or other obligations. By keeping the setting lean and letting each session move the player forward, Crimson Moon even with a short play you feel it matters. Players can still be drawn into its dark fantasy world without feeling like they've spent most of their available time watching cutscenes or waiting for the game to open.

But another huge hurdle for time-strapped players is the progressive defense often found in modern action RPGs, where punching a mechanical wall can waste an entire evening of free time. To solve this dilemma, Crimson MoonThe progression system is designed to honor the player's skill and reward them for any risk they take. Instead of forcing players into a mindless, repetitive grind loop just to extend the game's artificial playtime or achieve some other arbitrary goal, Lesperance noted that the game's difficulty is aimed at making players feel like their time and effort is actually moving them forward:

So obviously there is a higher end. Existing weapon tiers. Again, if you think about some of the things we love, you know I'm a huge Diablo fan. One of my early jobs was working at Blizzard, and we love that. So one of the things that we do is that for more difficult levels, more powerful and more advanced equipment, we also provide different progression metrics. Player leveling exists for higher levels and additional challenges and quests are also unlocked at higher difficulties.

Adults with limited free time need games that reward smart play more than brute patience. By offering better equipment and unique challenges at higher difficulty levels, Crimson Moon it can serve players who want a serious test without leaving others. The result is a progression system built around giving players a reason to keep going, whether they have thirty minutes to play or all night.

Making collaboration easier for busy players

A co-op game of Crimson Moon characters standing guard

Crimson MoonRespect for limited free time is also reflected in its co-op design. Co-op RPGs can be frustrating when one friend has ten hours to play and the other just one, as the differences in levels can make it difficult for everyone to enjoy the same content together. Presumably, Monsters tries to avoid this problem by level scaling, which allows players to team up without progress differences feeling like a penalty.

One of the reasons I pushed co-op so hard is because we wanted to bring people together. My wife and I play a lot of Diablo, and one of the things that we find really great experiences is when it's level 20 Paragon and I'm coming to level 40 or 50 because I'm quitting the game, there's the ability to help bring someone in and help them get into a space where we're all still working together. The thing that's unique about it is the focus on our skill-based combat, it's not exactly a power level aspect. We encourage that communication a lot, and given the nature of the difficulty in the game, players are able to kind of control the weight they have.

With this system, the more casual player can jump into more challenging co-op missions with a friend who has spent much more time perfecting their character build. The goal is to protect the social side of the game, especially for players whose schedules rarely line up perfectly. Crimson Moon it allows a group of busy adults to share the same adventure without anyone feeling like they have to treat the game like a second job.

Crimson Moon character fighting a monster

All things considered, Crimson Moon it clearly points to a larger shift in what many long-time gamers now want from games. The audience that grew up with modern gaming is now older, and many of these gamers are balancing work, family, and far less free time than they used to have. They still want great combat, memorable worlds, and satisfying progression systems, but they also need games that get to the point faster.

Monsters seem to understand this balance. Combining the tighter confines of AA with the kind of polish players expect from a modern AAA game, Crimson Moon offers a more targeted alternative to games built around endless time commitments. For gamers with almost no time to spare, this dark fantasy action RPG could stand out by giving them something complete and worth visiting on their own schedule.