If you’re a Minecraft fan and a Lovecraftian, you’ll definitely want to check this game out, and perhaps even get in on the beta-testing!  Stonehearth‘s creators, Tom and Tony Cannon, are two former Silicon Valley programmers.  They took time out of their busy schedule to answer a few questions for Lovecraft eZine readers.

For those Lovecraft eZine readers who haven’t heard of you, can you give us an idea of who you are, and what you’ve done up until now?

We’re two lifelong gamers who until this project had been leading dual lives. By day working as software engineers in Silicon Valley, by night, hardcore fighting gamers. In our spare time, we founded the biggest fighting game tournament in the world (the EVO Championship Series, which we’ve run for over a decade) and wrote GGPO, the network middleware tailored to fighters that powers Skullgirls and some fighters by Capcom and Bandai-Namco.

In late 2011, we finally decided to follow our dream to make games full time. We quit our day jobs, set up shop in my basement, and have never looked back.

With over 30 combined years of software development experience, we figured writing a game would be a piece of cake. Not so much 🙂 After a few reboots and a trial-by-fire crash course in pathfinding, AI, asset pipelines, etc. we finally found the sweet spot we were hoping for and are now ready to show off our Stonehearth.

Oh, we’re also twin brothers, which I guess puts a weird spin on this whole thing.

In what ways is Stonehearth like Minecraft, and in what ways is it different?

Minecraft brilliantly showed how building in 3d space could be done in a fun and simple way with lego-like bricks. Our building and crafting systems system is heavily inspired by Minecraft, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end.

Minecraft is a first-person game where you’re pretty much building everything yourself. In Stonehearth you’re the unseen commander of a whole town of settlers. You instruct them what to do and they carry out your orders. We’re also adding lots of features inspired by role playing games. Each of your settlers has a class like carpenter, miner, archer, or swordsman, and they’ll gain experience and levels.

We’ll also have scripted mini-adventures called modules that play out in a more story-driven way. For instance, you may be invaded by a band of goblin raiders, and the way you respond to that raid will trigger different events in the world. And this whole system is moddable, so as a player you can add your own adventures and share them with your friends.

Why Cthulhu? (Though we Lovecraftians are glad he’s there!)

Well, we wanted to quickly get across the concept of awakening a dark, ancient power. We wanted to express that Stonehearth is about growth and progression, both in terms of growing your town but also in uncovering the world’s secrets, sometimes with unintended consequences. If you do really well in the game, you can expect to attract a lot of attention, and not necessarily the kind that you wanted.

I read that Stonehearth is a kind of Minecraft meets Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth meets RPG. Is that accurate?

I haven’t played CoC:DCotE, so it’s hard for me to answer that question. I would describe the game as old school sim-city like management, but with Minecraft-like fine-grained building, all wrapped in a RPG burrito, because in the end the game is about progression, getting stronger, and taking on bigger challenges.

Can you tell us about the beta-testing reward, and how that will work?

Basically the $30 backers will get the game early, when there is enough of a game to play but way before it’s what we would consider a final release. You’ll have a chance to see the game evolve and offer your feedback on the way things like building, crafting, and combat work. This kind of thing has become pretty popular for indie games, and it’s a win-win. As a gamer you get early access to play the game. As developers we get player feedback early so it helps us really tune to the game to what you guys want.

Please elaborate as much as you’d like about the other Kickstarter rewards:

Our kitten and puppy companion perks have been very popular. These are basically pets that will accompany your settlers each time you start a new game. They’re run around, play with balls, and do other cute things while you’re establishing your city. It’s just a fun way for us to give our early backers a special thank you. Our higher tiers allow backers to really put their stamp on the game, by naming a settler, a giant boss monster, or a part of the game world.

What else would you like to tell us about Stonehearth?

We have a big focus on modding. Think about Dungeons and Dragons, where once you have the core ruleset you can totally go crazy and write your own adventures. We want players to be able to do that in Stonehearth. You’ll be able to design your own new items, monsters, or RPG-like scenarios (zombie invasion? Plague?) and share them with the whole community of players online. If you’re not into designing your own content, you can check out the things that other people have made, and if you like them incorporate them into your copy of the game.

Anything else you’d like to tell us?

The best way to follow what we’re doing is to check our our devblog at stonehearth.net. We’ve dreamed of building a game like this for a long time, and it’s just very exciting to finally start down this road to make our dream a reality.

Check out their Kickstarter here; $15 gets you the game, and $30 gets you in on the beta-testing!