Hey Nintendo Switch enthusiasts and future students of the Academy of Greifenstein.
We are Florian (u/Capt_Flowbird, CEO) and Roman (u/Arvcis, Game Director) from Alchemist Interactive.
We are incredibly excited to introduce our latest game “Spells & Secrets”, an action rogue-lite set at the magical Academy of Greifenstein.
Game Description:
Spells & Secrets is a deep and motivating rogue-lite experience that invites everyone to this rewarding genre with its adventure story. Free the wizard Academy of Greifenstein from magical creatures by using your spells in creative ways.
Play in local co-op with a friend, customize your own character, solve mysteries and find powerful artifacts in this modern magical world.
Check out our [Explanation Video](https://youtu.be/v-z_Om4UnmM?si=arPHIsI_8EZJ_6cQ) for more details!
Key Features:
– Use up to 21 spells creatively against magical creatures or to solve puzzles
– Create your character from extensive options and progressively unlock more apparel
– Discover 100+ unique artifacts in your runs to power up your spells
– Solve more than 40 optional puzzles throughout the castle
– Upgrade and improve your character permanently in the Hub
– Use a variety of helpful potions
– Play in 2 player local co-op mode
[Latest Trailer](https://youtu.be/bb39MyI50kk?si=2aGeKRKlyHv6f6Z4)
Release Date: November 9th
[Spells & Secrets on the Nintendo eShop](https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/spells-and-secrets-switch/)
About Alchemist Interactive:
Alchemist Interactive was established in 2015 and is located in Düsseldorf, Germany. We self-published our first game »NOVA NUKERS!« in 2017 on Steam. Soon after, we started a business partnership with German publisher »rokaplay«. Together we worked on our second release »Stranded Sails – Explorers of the Cursed Islands«. Our third and current project is »Spells & Secrets«.
Win a key: We will pick one person who participated in the AMA to receive a Nintendo Switch key from us. The winner will be contacted by us in the next few days!
We can’t wait for you to experience the magic we’ve created with “Spells & Secrets”. We’d love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and any questions you might have about the game. Feel free to ask us anything!
EDIT: It’s getting late and we have to wrap up for today. Thank you all for your questions and interest in our game “Spells & Secrets”. We hope you got all the answers you were looking for! Have a great rest of the week!
by Arvcis
36 Comments
Are there any queer or nonbinary characters in your game?
Hey guys! Liking the look of the game. Just wondering what difficulty options there will be? I play some co-op games with my son (six) and this looks like a definite option, maybe as an xmas present. Just wondering if it can be dialled down a bit for him?
What was it like to design puzzles in Spells & Secrets?
What was the most difficult moment or the most difficult task in your development?
Bonus question: why should you give me the game key? 😛
How challenging is the game?
What NPC do you think will be fan favorites. Currently a fan of Murlein
As a parent who doesn’t get long to game, does this game work well in short sessions or is it made more for long plays?
What was your favorite thing to work on from an aesthetic standpoint? (A favorite visual for a spell, a room, an enemy or NPC design)
Any plans to have online multiplayer down the road? I know there is steam remote play but I was wondering about true online multiplayer?
Not a question about the game but about you Generally: Funding games in Germany gets increasingly harder as the german government keeps overlooking the huge potential we have in Germany when it comes to producing/developing games. How does this affect you now and potentially in the future?
Which Rogue Lites did you take inspiration from during development?
Looks really fun love the puzzle element!
Spells & Secrets has been featured in many Cozy Gaming channels and lists lately. Why do you think you managed to capture that specific niche with your game? Is it more due to the theme, or do you think the artstyle has something to do with it?
Greetings from Aachen, your game looks incredible! It has cozy magic vibes and I look forward to playing on launch day. All the best for your team, have a GREAT launch! Your game also comes up regularly in the cozygamers sub, so maybe you want to crosspost. 🙂
Question: In one of your explainers, you were talking specifically about how utility spells are some of the most important spells – what measures did you take to focus on that aspect? Are “pure damage” options without need for setup mathematically weaker?
To elaborate: I love utility spells because most of the time they have a much cooler moment-to-moment action “narrative” (“I crushed that one with an exploding chair”) element but roguelikes often focus on being “in or beyond” the damage curve and choosing too much utility causes you to fall behind, even if those options are more interesting gameplay-wise.
Just watched the video, game looks super cool! I really like how the spells are diverse, rather than just a kill beam. Messing with opponents is just more wizardy.
My questionis about the stamina wheel for casting. Why did you guys choose this over charge to cast?
My thoughts is the rouge lite element, where being mobile is very important, and standing still to call out a spell can leave you vulnerable. I didn’t see all casting specifics, but it looks like most spells are instant and last as long as you have stamina.
Would love to hear more about the design, and thanks for doing this!
What made you want to create the game and make it a rouge like?
Who are you granting content creator keys to on Keymailer? I am curious of the requirements you had since I got denied. No hard feelings, just curious.
About how many hours do you estimate it would take to complete this game?
What is your favorite spell?
What would you say is the main focus of the game? Is it leaning more towards puzzle-solving, exploration, combat, or story-driven?
Very happy to see a local co-op adventure. Are there plans for online co-op in the future?
How long is the gameplay and what is a tip you could give us that we should know while playing the game
Also what inspired you to make a magic centric game?
Looks cool
Which is your favourite spell to use and why?
Can we combo them for interesting effects?
What were y’all’s main inspirations drawn from aesthetically?
Maybe it’s a little soon to ask for this but why not…
How many time do you plan to update the game with new content? or yo begin with, do you have plans to update the game in the future?
Hello! First thank you for this game it look so good! And now I’ll ask you my questions on my mother tongue: french : Y a t il des niveaux de difficultés? Le joue aura-t-il un DLC?
Other than the combat I’ve seen in videos, what else can I expect from Spells & Secrets in terms of gameplay? Are there any life sim elements? Is there more customization other than the main character?
Congrats on the release of the game! I love magic and magical schools and I’m very excited to give it a try.
Oh I like the colourful art style!
Approximately how many spells are there in the game? You say you took inspiration from the Binding of Isaac, are there specific combinations of spells/artifacts that lead to interesting synergies that were specifically designed/implemented, or are you expecting more emergent synergy between spells/artifacts?
Do you have any plans for a physical release?this game looks very interesting (even to a 40s dad).
How long did you worked at this project? And how similar did the game ended to be compared to your first ideas you had when starting this project? Is it almost exactly as you planed it at first or did you changed and/or implemented a lot of things while working on it? How did the development go? Were there any difficult phases or perhaps even times when the project was on the brink of collapse?
I’m always very interested in the development of games. Hope you always had fun with it. You game looks very fun and individual.
If you add new content would you add it a content update or DLC like Binding of Issac?
I love roguelites 🙂
How much randomization is there and how long is a run on average ?
Can you follow up on the switch 3 and what games will be compatible?
What was the original concept for the game before it became what it is today?
Is local coop mode a similar experience as single player? Such as character arc, story beats, mysteries, etc?
Congrats! Really digging the aesthetic. What were some of the inspirations for the soundtrack and sound design? Thanks!