{"id":1500241,"date":"2026-02-16T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/urn:uuid:6af207f2-e84c-4cff-a9bb-767f768cbbfc"},"modified":"2026-02-16T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T20:00:00","slug":"how-open-world-soulslike-deckbuilder-death-howl-was-built","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/how-open-world-soulslike-deckbuilder-death-howl-was-built\/","title":{"rendered":"How open world Soulslike deckbuilder Death Howl was built"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we first started working on Death Howl, if you had told me we were building an “open world, soulslike deckbuilder,” I would have looked at you with a fair bit of confusion. It sounds like a recipe made out of components that don’t naturally fit together. Yet, as we prepare to bring the journey of Ro to a new audience on PlayStation 5 from February 19, I’ve been reflecting on how this genre blend came to be.<\/p>\n

The truth is, the “soulslike” tag wasn’t part of the original design document.<\/p>\n

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A foundation of cards and tactics<\/h2>\n

At its core, Death Howl began as a prototype that I made as a school project back in 2015 after playing the unique and brilliant game called Dream Quest. I’ve always been inspired by Magic: The Gathering and the idea of traversing a world to collect materials for crafting power. Our initial goal was to create an alternative to the traditional roguelite deckbuilder – something that traded linear, “always-start-from-beginning” runs for a free-roaming open world.<\/p>\n

We also looked at the character skill building where cards replaced traditional weapons and spells, with all combat taking place on a grid.<\/p>\n

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