Ever tried to get someone into gaming and it just… didn’t work? There might be a few reasons for this – the game assumes players already know what they’re doing, players have different gaming experience levels, or one person ends up doing all the decision-making while the other just follows along. We wanted to solve these problems. That’s the philosophy driving every design decision in Duo Quest: creating a space where everyone can enjoy fun time with family, partner and friends.

Duo Quest is a coop roguelike game that takes the roguelike experience and makes it work for two players. If you’ve played games like Slay the Spire, you know how addictive they can be – you build your deck, fight monsters, and try to make it through increasingly tough challenges. But those games have always been solo experiences. Duo Quest changes that by letting two players go through the roguelike adventure together. Both players are actively playing, making decisions, playing cards, and dealing with whatever the game throws at you. All those things that make roguelikes fun – the risk, the rewards, slowly getting stronger as you progress – they’re all there, but now you’re doing it with someone else.

But here’s where Duo Quest is different – it’s not just a roguelike game. When monsters enter their special phases, the game shifts into trivia mode where players must answer questions to break through these powerful enemy abilities. But these aren’t your typical trivia questions with fixed answers. Instead, they’re personal questions about each other, covering themes like hobbies, music, food, and more. When both players give matching answers about each other, they can fuse together a powerful card to overcome the monster’s special phase. But the mechanic behind this isn’t just for beating monsters – it also helps players learn about each other better.

As a programmer working on this project, I should share why these matters to me. Joining the game industry has always been my dream. It started with Final Fantasy 7 on PS2 – that was my first RPG, and it got me hooked on gaming. During university, I took subjects that taught game design and how to create digital games, which gave me the knowledge and skills about how games are actually made. But just having knowledge and skills alone wouldn’t be enough to make me join the industry. The real motivation came from a game I played during my second year – Persona 4 Golden. That game gave me so many great memories and even made me cry. For 10 days straight, my routine was just eat, play, sleep until I completed it. That experience gave me the passion I needed. Having both the technical knowledge and that emotional drive made me realize I wanted to join the game industry and create something that can make people feel something real.

Because of that experience, when developing Duo Quest, I always think that player experience is the most important thing. Our game isn’t just for experienced gamers – we want newcomers to enjoy it too. I still remember my first time playing a game. I had no idea what I was doing, couldn’t figure out which keys did what, and even struggled to open the settings or save my progress. Even now, after playing tons of games, I still get confused sometimes when there’s no clear instruction and end up looking up guides on my phone. Do you know that feeling when a game has too many complicated controls to remember? Or when everything takes forever to load and you just lose interest? I’ve been there. That’s why I think player experience is one of the most important things we can’t ignore. When someone picks up our game – whether they’ve been gaming for years or this is their first time – I want them to feel comfortable right away, not frustrated or lost.

Being part of creating Duo Quest means a lot to me. As someone who fell in love with gaming through emotional experiences, working on a game that prioritizes bringing people together feels like the perfect fit. I want to create something that can give players the same kind of unforgettable memories that game gave me. Whether you’re a gamer or newcomer, I believe Duo Quest will provide memorable moments for every player. That’s what I hope we’re creating – a game that brings people together and gives them something special to remember.