Dota Underlords is a standalone spinoff from the main game. It’s inspired by a mod, Dota Auto Chess, that has gone on to spawn a whole new genre. A simple hook makes the hero-drafting gameplay of the new autobattlers almost like a kind of strategic slot machine, fun both sitting at a desktop and on mobile. They’re colourful games, forcing you to stay on your toes, but still offering downtime between rounds. Brad Muir, coder and designer on Underlords, feels just that way about it. “I’ll go to the bathroom at round 12 and 13,” he says, to laughter from his teammates. “Whatever, it’s fine, I’m doing fine, I can just skip out on it and it’s OK.”
For a studio that makes notoriously innovative games making a spinoff from Dota 2, what is perhaps the most complex competitive game in the world today, Muir’s attitude came as a surprise. But I shouldn’t have been surprised. There’s a lot that’s unusual about Dota Underlords.
This story is from the March 2020 edition of PC Gamer.
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This story is from the March 2020 edition of PC Gamer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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