SteamWorld Quest: Why do not franchises take more risks in this way?

The largest franchises on the planet are also among the safest.

Look at Assassin's Creed. Despite major changes to stage, time, and game content in each slot, Assassin's Creed remains an action-adventure series that focuses on parkour and sneaks into the crowd. Sometimes the combat gear is revamped, sometimes they add pirates, but the core remains the same. When Ubisoft Is to experiment the genre Assassin's Creed, it is in the context of a spin-off developed by a secondary studio on a much smaller scale.

The conservative approach makes sense. Taking risks with your biggest franchise is, well, risky. Which makes the SteamWorld franchise so remarkable.

Image & Form, a small studio based in Sweden, created the SteamWorld series in 2010. The first game released in the franchise was SteamWorld Tower Defense, a digital only title for the Nintendo DSi that barely made a groan.

Since then, Image & Form has come out SteamWorld Dig (in Metroidvania /DigDug to crush), SteamWorld Heist (a side-by-side turn-based strategy game) and now their newest, SteamWorld Quest (a fantastic role-playing game based on cards) Each new installment represents a total game start from the previous title, with the exception of Dig. The only unifying feature of the games is that everyone in this universe is a steam robot.

Brjann Sigurgeirsson, CEO of Image & Form, told Polygon that the team decided what kind to tackle. He then finds a way to integrate it into the SteamWorld universe.

"This means that SteamWorld might have to balloon a bit to encompass this game and that genre," Sigurgeirsson told Polygon. "It does not bother us, as long as the story makes sense and can fit on the timeline."

SteamWorld Quest continue this tradition by mixing a card-based RPG with a fantastic setting. The mechanics of the game are complex, with several decks and combo possibilities for each fight. But Quest I feel accessible, like the rest of the Image & Form games, allowing me to slowly enter systems that would seem overwhelming if they were rushed.

It does not feel like this is the first RPG or card game of Image & Form, but it is. The developer has managed to bring the same level of care to each of the genres he has addressed so far, despite their disparity.

You may think that this level of experimentation is not possible with big budget franchises. The risk is too great. But look Apex Legends. Rather than releasing the same mechanical-based shooter that had already been made twice before, Respawn created a free, hero-based, battle-free battle game in the Titanfall universe. It's not as radical as moving from Metroidvania to a map-based role-playing game, but it proves that experimentation can revive a struggling franchise, even on a larger scale. The key is to bring the same level of commitment to the experience, rather than treat it as another.

As for SteamWorld, the strategy of everything goes well seems to work. Which raises the question: what kind of Image & Form will it attack next?

"Our heroes are steam robots that navigate in space," says Sigurgeirsson. "We can do just about anything in good condition."

Steamworld Quest: The Hand of Gilgamech is now available on Nintendo Switch. You can read our full review here.