GamesRoguelikeA 4,000-hour Final Fantasy 14 diehard made his own MMO raid-infused roguelike and it’s tearing it up on Steam, beating the 4-year sales of his last game in 24 hoursWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRoguelikeA 4,000-hour Final Fantasy 14 diehard made his own MMO raid-infused roguelike and it’s tearing it up on Steam, beating the 4-year sales of his last game in 24 hoursWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Mino_dev)
Even launching just three days after Hades 2,Rabbit and Steelfrom solo dev Mino has become one of the highest-rated and most successful new roguelikes of May 2024. It’s a bullet hell action roguelike spliced with MMO raid mechanics, and it has done incredibly well on Steam. At the time of writing, it’s racked up over 2,400 user reviews with a 98% positive score – and as Mino tells me, it outsold his previous game, 2020’sMaiden and Spell, in one day.
I recognized Rabbit and Steel from its showing in a previousSteam Next Fest, which Mino says “was a pretty huge boost.” The pitch is: take on randomized raid-like battles – think tons of AoE markers, projectiles, and global cooldowns (GCDs) – with up to three friends in a pick-up-and-play format. It’s a “raiding roguelike” starring cute bunny girls who can be customized through over 100 random, collectible items and five chosen classes like assassin and druid. And yes, it’s a Final Fantasy 14 love letter right down to its bone marrow.
“I feel like the Final Fantasy 14 influence is so obvious that it doesn’t even need to be mentioned, but I will for posterity’s sake,” Mino says when I ask about the MMOs and roguelikes that were in the back of his mind during development. With over 4,000 hours inSquare Enix’s beloved MMO, Mino is mighty familiar with FF14’s raid formula. He also mentions the original Hades, which he enjoyed and which “had some really good design that I could learn from,” but which he also wanted to tweak slightly, specifically in the way weapons are upgraded mid-run. But if anything, though there’s not much overlap with Rabbit and Steel, his favorite roguelike is Slay the Spire. (These are both high-ranking entries on our list of thebest roguelikes, if you’re hungry for more.)
“The reasons for the ‘MMO raid’ feel are numerous; for one I play a lot of FF14, so I was fairly familiar with what’s fun in a raid and what isn’t,” he explains. “But more importantly, it felt like a concept that I was uniquely positioned to create. I had Maiden and Spell’s code; most importantly its netcode, which let me easily create ‘patterns’ and send them across the internet with rollback. I also had the basic framework for how Maiden and Spell works as a game; four buttons, floaty combat, cooldowns and GCDs (I didn’t call them GCDs in Maiden and Spell, but that’s what they were).”
“There are a lot of indie games out there, and a lot of roguelikes too. It’s very easy to get lost amongst all the other action roguelikes coming out every other week (especially if Hades 2 decides to shadow drop three days before your release date). Also, I just think online co-op games are a good idea in general. Nowadays, a lot of people play games as a thing to do with friends over Discord, so I wanted to make a game that could fit into that. If you don’t have something that other games don’t, you won’t stand out. For me, that means a multiplayer game with good netcode and a unique concept. Not too many others can do that; even larger indie teams.”
Compared to Final Fantasy 14, Mino wanted to simplify things a bit for Rabbit and Steel. “It’s cool that a huge, mass-marketed game like FF14 gets to put things in their game that are obtuse and difficult to understand and require time and dedication and patience to complete,” he says. But that wouldn’t fit the approachable vibe he was going for, “so I was restricted to things I could explain with a quick text blurb above your character’s head,” like “spread out” and “knockback.”
(Image credit: Mino_dev)
This wasn’t always going to be a roguelike, either. In another timeline, Rabbit and Steel is more similar to Maiden and Spell, with a simpler series of bosses. “I’m glad I did make a roguelike though; the replayability and different builds you can get really make the game something greater than the sum of its parts,” Mino says. “In MMOs, you fight the bosses over and over because you want a set of endgame gear; but in Rabbit and Steel you do it just because you might get an even wackier build than last time.”
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This unexpected success has reinforced his existing plans for extra content updates for Rabbit and Steel, which may end up being “a little bit grander” now. “I also want to take a crack at mod support; some people have already been making custom sprites for the game, so it’d be cool if there were tools to do even more,” Mino says.
Dead Cells dev’s Prince of Persia roguelike delayed to dodge Hades 2’s surprise Early Access launch: “We are not prideful enough to ignore the implications of that.”
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GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2
Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3
Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2
Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3
Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5
Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1
Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2
Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3
Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”