1. Warhorse Studios prioritizes deliberate difficulty and friction in gameplay to enhance players’ sense of achievement and immersion.
2. The studio intentionally retains rough edges and challenge, believing overcoming friction makes players feel more accomplished.
3. This design philosophy has been a core part of Warhorse’s approach since the early development of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, contributing to its reputation for realism and complexity.
Prokop Jirsa’s Rise in Warhorse Studios
Prokop Jirsa, recently appointed as the new creative director at Warhorse Studios, never really thought he would be climbing up the ranks when he initially joined back in 2014. Coming into the studio with just a degree in business and economics, he applied for a role as a “designer,” a loosely defined job title at the time in Czech. His journey was surprising, from being a novice in game design to now leading a team alongside Viktor Bocan. Inspired by his experience, Jirsa believes that making RPGs like Kingdom Come: Deliverance challenging and deliberately tough creates a more rewarding experience for players.
Philosophy Behind Game Design
In an interview with Czech Crunch, Jirsa shared insights on Warhorse’s core belief to embrace flaws and imperfections in their game development process. They prefer not to smooth over all the rough spots because these difficulties add depth to the gameplay. According to him, “The usual answer is, ‘OK, let’s get rid of the friction.’ We don’t operate that way here. We feel that if you overcome the friction, or the friction is intentionally there, then the friction helps you!” This perspective emphasizes that overcoming obstacles gives players a sense of achievement and satisfaction.
Friction and Player Satisfaction
He elaborated further, stating that “Because you overcome the friction, you feel better about yourself; you feel that you’ve overcome some actual problem or difficulty.” Jirsa’s approach aligns closely with the game’s mechanics, particularly in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, where players manually craft items like Fever Tonics or horseshoes during quests. This design principle intentionally makes the game more immersive and feel more authentic, even if it means players face a steeper challenge.
Origins of Design Ethos in Kingdom Come
Interestingly, this value of stubborn realism was embedded right from the early development of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Warhorse Studios was a small, resource-limited startup that relied heavily on Kickstarter to develop a medieval RPG set in 15th-century Bohemia. Jirsa, as the lead designer, focused more on shaping the campaign to communicate their vision than on just quest design. Even though the game launched with bugs and some controversy, it gained a passionate following for its intricate mechanics and unwavering commitment to realism, setting it apart from more polished but less authentic titles.
