Q&A With The Developers - Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny

The community asked, we answered.

You all have been sharing some fantastic questions about Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny, and we brought them straight to the devs!

We sat down with the developers, Petit Fabrik & Fair Play Labs, to talk through the community’s top asks from design inspirations to gameplay insights (and maybe some extra fun).

Q&A

Q: Why was the “tabletop” theme chosen for the game? -@duckscouttf2

A: We wanted to reference classic tabletop fantasy games and also the childhood feeling of casually playing board games in your bedroom on sleepover with childhood friends, everything should feel miniaturized and a bit wonky. On top of that, mashing this up with the power of the Fairly OddParents seemed like a super natural idea.

Q: What was your process for choosing the characters and their classes for this game? Was the focus more on figuring out which class would fit well for a specific character, or was it more figuring out which character would fit well for a specific class/gameplay style? -@grithalmur

A: We actually chose the characters first and after that we figured out where they would fit in RPG archetypes. We wanted to cover as much as we could in terms of giving players different playstyles and that’s not very hard to do with Nickelodeon characters, because they’re so versatile. Some of them of course ‘feel’ more natural in certain roles, but some of them also feel incredibly flexible to be honest. If for example the Knight class was already taken by any other character other than SpongeBob, I think we could have just as easily turned him into a bard, mage or even a summoner. Can you imagine that?

Q: If the bosses have classes like the playable characters, what would they be? (Example: Plankton as a Warlock) -@piplupknight

A: Most of them actually do have classes. Just not all.

• Plankton: Wizard

• Angelica: Witch

• Ember: Ember just screams Bard.

• Azula: Pyromancer

Q: What games and/or stories influenced you for Dice of Destiny? -@jusjarbo4ever

A: Action RPGs in general, but more specifically we took a lot of inspiration from games like Diablo, Path of Exile, and more light titles like Minecraft Dungeons and Cat Quest. Also, games like Hades and Cult of the Lamb who helped us shape a lot of the aspects of our gameplay.

Q: Why did you decide on this specific art style (I love it btw) instead of going the traditional Nicktoons games? -@bearlysweaty

A: Thank you! We are so thrilled to get that type of feedback. We wanted the feeling of a table top game, kinda like if they were paper characters standing on a thematic board game, tests were made on what would work or not, some had some more paper texture, other versions had some kind of normal map volume... The result we used in the game I think stands out and works well on highlighting the characters from the environment.

Q: Who out of the current characters revealed was the most fun to create and bring to life? -@oshacario

A: That’s a question that will have a completely different answer depending on who you ask. Since I feel everyone on the team has their own personal favorite character, I think it’s super safe to say that the sentiment was that it was a blast to bring all of them to life. Once you get into the process of turning the characters you’ve watched since forever on Nickelodeon’s shows into actual playable RPG characters it feels like you never want to stop. It’s a lot of fun coming up with abilities and later on seeing them come to life by the hands of so many talented artists, devs and of course, their voice actors!

Q: Will there be difficulty options included for more experienced RPG players and/or older Nicktoon fans to bite their teeth in? -@nico41969773

A: Of course! Every level can be played in higher difficulties, so finding the appropriate level of challenge for your style or ability won’t be a problem.

Q: Are there going to be any iconic music tracks from various franchises within the game itself? -@jackcollins1416

A: All music in the game is original and also, the music team went super deep to bring elements and references to the compositions which make them really have that identity of the characters and shows they were inspired in. Answering this question actually kind of got me humming one of the first world’s theme songs. They’re quite catchy ;)

Q: Will the characters have interactions with one another throughout most of the game? -@iamapencil4

A: Yes! The game has a TON of dialogue, cinematics and cutscenes featuring amazing bits of interactions between all the characters in the game. WE hope Nick fans find it to be an incredible treat! We simply can’t wait to see what your reactions will be!

Q: Is the main story progression in this game entirely linear, or is there any degree of freedom/choice in terms of the order of which areas you can travel to/challenges you can take on? -@larkinson9140

A: The main story is completely linear. In terms of gameplay, however, the player can choose to complete side quests and to go back and play earlier levels in higher difficulties, adding a bit of fun and additional challenge.

Q:Will the game have a loot/gear system (different rarities, character-specific loot, etc)? -@dibby_cosplay

A: Yes. Throughout the adventure, the player will be able not only to collect, but also to buy an array of weapons and armors, each with different perks and adapted to each character. Gear can range from common, simple weapons and armor, to Epic hero-making equipment. Like in any good ARPG, itemization is key to success in the world of NatDoD.

Q: Can you tell us the thought process for choosing the 2012 Leonardo out of all the other turtles and iterations of TMNT? -@scooper4mvs

A: Great question! We chose the 2012 Leo because the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle series was the first to be a part of the Nicktoons family of shows.

Q: What are the development team’s favorite Nicktoons and how did you pick who was playable and who’s an NPC? -@soph1710

A: That’s truly an impossible question to answer because there’s not a unanimous reply! Each of us in the development team basically have their own. Some of us literally grew up watching TMNT, Rugrats and SpongeBob, while others (maybe the younger ones on the team, haha) grew up watching Avatar, Danny Phantom and My Life as a Teenage Robot. As for picking who would be a playable or NPC, believe me, if we could, we’d probably turn all NPCs into playables as well, but unfortunately we had to make some tough decisions. But even as NPCs, we made sure they deliver as much as they can of their characters through interactions and the quests you’re gonna get to play.

Q: What was it like coming up with character classes and their movesets? Were some more challenging than others? And how much did you consider their personalities when making them? -@arcad1ac

A: Once we had the roster locked down, we started filling in the roles with each of them. Some of them could fit more than one role easily, so that made it a little bit easier for us to come up with a balanced roster that doesn’t have any role repetition and can cover a wide breadth of gameplay possibilities. Their personalities and what they do in their shows were actually the basis for the design of their skills. For example: SpongeBob is a Spatula-wielding Knight and most of his skills, such as the Ol’Reliable and his Kah-Rah-Tay spinning move — both huge inspirations from the show, are gonna work super well in that role, which makes him fight a lot from up close, but at the same time to make his kit very robust, we also wanted to bring at least one long ranged option for SB, so when asking ourselves how to do it we though why not incorporate one of his hobbies into that? And that’s how we came up with his Bubble Blast attack, which is an incredible long-ranged choice for you to snipe enemies from afar in the field!

Q: How were the playable characters for this game chosen? -@alexmb1997

A: We wanted to include as many awesome Nick characters as possible, it was a huge mix of fan favorites, Nick suggestions and our favorites. Well, we’re fans too so I think it boils down to just fan favorites plus Nick suggestions then.

Q: Will there be any type of customization in any way shape or form for this game? -@tekoa

A: Yes. As of now, every character has a unique skin, and, who knows, maybe in the future new ones will be added.

Q: How did you come up with the idea to make this new Nicktoons game into a fantasy RPG? -@saiyanspongecinema

A: We imagined bringing them to this medieval fantasy environment would be super fun and give us freedom to mash many parts of each IP together, at the same time, it would print that feeling of a "special middle ages episode" into our game, everything has its own fantasy version, it works really well.

Q: Almost immediately after the announcement, we’ve seen a dragon depicted on the cover art; anything you can tell us about it? -@jsb7778

A: Every fantasy RPG needs a dragon to call yours. Ours is one of a kind… Can’t say more without spoiling the fun, but rest assured that this one won’t make things easy for the adventurers. And we can’t wait for you to see…

If there’s something you’re still curious about, drop it in the comments, Steam discussion tab, or ask it in our Discord server! As much as we want to answer all of the amazing questions we receive, we have to keep some surprises for the launch later this month ;)

Be the first to see upcoming news and character reveals by following along on social: Twitter/X: https://x.com/NickRPGGame

Instagram: https://instagram.com/NickRPGGame

YouTube: [dynamiclink href="https://youtube.com/NickRPGGame"]

Discord: https://discord.gg/BddcmTJk25

Official website for Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny:

https://gamemill.com/games/nicktoonsdiceofdestiny/