Hyper Light Drifter
A top-down action RPG with pixel art.
Where Hyper Light Drifter comes up5 episodes and tests
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testHow to Make a Good 2D Camera
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testHow Game Designers Protect Players From Themselves
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testDo We Need a Soulslike Genre?
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe Magic of the First Legend of Zelda
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testShovel Knight and Nailing NostalgiaHyper Light Drifter shows how a retro-style action RPG can feel fresh. It ties gun ammo recharge to sword hits, pushing players into risky melee, and it keeps a sense of mystery that Soulslike clones lack. It also borrows widely, adds modern comforts like liberal checkpoints, and uses a distinct palette. Lesson: capture a favorite game's spirit, and reward the behavior you want.
- 1Ammo runs lowGun ammo is the scarcest resource
- 2Move in closePlayers are pushed into close combat
- 3Land sword hitsHits on enemies recharge the gun
- 4Fire the gunSpent ammo sends players back to the sword
From Mark Brown's design analysis
What was said about Hyper Light Drifter
1Nostalgia done as a remix, not a copy
Hyper Light Drifter mixed retro challenge with modern comforts and a new palette. It borrows from A Link to the Past, Mega Man Zero, Miyazaki films and Diablo, and stays challenging and oblique like a good retro game while adding smooth analogue controls and liberal checkpoints.
Its 16-bit pixel art uses a unique colour palette and shows more on screen than a Super NES game could. Mark Brown uses it as a case that meets all four of his nostalgia principles: borrow widely, keep the best of the source, modernise what did not work, and present it with a rose-tinted retro look.
2Keeping mystery alive in a familiar genre
Capture a favourite game's spirit with new material, not its formula. Mark Brown says Hyper Light Drifter captures the unknowable, obtuse spirit of Dark Souls, with its riddles and hidden dangers, which Soulslike clones cannot because players already know their systems and tropes.
He also cites it, alongside The Witness, as a modern game showing that the freedom and wordless mystery of the first Legend of Zelda still work. Quote: "none of these Soulslike games can capture that feeling, because - at this point - they're completely familiar."
3The gun that only recharges through sword hits
Tie the scarcest resource to the risky play you want. The gun's ammo only recharges when the player lands sword hits on enemies, so players are pushed into close combat without being told to.
Mark Brown presents it as a way designers steer players away from safe but dull strategies: when the thing players need most comes from playing a certain way, they will play that way.
4A camera that looks ahead
Offset the camera toward where the hero faces. The camera sits a few feet in front of the hero's head in whichever direction he is facing, giving the player more view of what is ahead.
5Similar examples from other apps
These are about other apps, not Hyper Light Drifter: examples from the same sources that help explain it.
Burnout gives boost only for dangerous driving. Burnout fills the boost meter when players drive close to cars and into oncoming traffic, the same resource-for-risk design as Hyper Light Drifter's gun.
Quote: "You've gotta drive dangerously to win."
How to Make a Good 2D Camera
Offsets the camera a few feet in front of the hero's head, whichever way he faces.
Offset the camera toward where the hero faces. The camera sits a few feet in front of the hero's head in whichever direction he is facing, giving the player more view of what is ahead.
How Game Designers Protect Players From Themselves
Your gun only recharges through sword hits, which forces players into close combat.
Tie the scarcest resource to the risky play you want. The gun's ammo only recharges when the player lands sword hits on enemies, so players are pushed into close combat without being told to.
Mark Brown presents it as a way designers steer players away from safe but dull strategies: when the thing players need most comes from playing a certain way, they will play that way.
Burnout gives boost only for dangerous driving. Burnout fills the boost meter when players drive close to cars and into oncoming traffic, the same resource-for-risk design as Hyper Light Drifter's gun.
Quote: "You've gotta drive dangerously to win."
Do We Need a Soulslike Genre?
Mark Brown says it captures the unknowable, obtuse spirit of Dark Souls, which the familiar Soulslike clones cannot.
Capture a favourite game's spirit with new material, not its formula. Mark Brown says Hyper Light Drifter captures the unknowable, obtuse spirit of Dark Souls, with its riddles and hidden dangers, which Soulslike clones cannot because players already know their systems and tropes.
He also cites it, alongside The Witness, as a modern game showing that the freedom and wordless mystery of the first Legend of Zelda still work. Quote: "none of these Soulslike games can capture that feeling, because - at this point - they're completely familiar."
The Magic of the First Legend of Zelda
Cited as a modern game that shows freedom and mystery still work, similar to the wordless odyssey of The Witness.
Capture a favourite game's spirit with new material, not its formula. Mark Brown says Hyper Light Drifter captures the unknowable, obtuse spirit of Dark Souls, with its riddles and hidden dangers, which Soulslike clones cannot because players already know their systems and tropes.
He also cites it, alongside The Witness, as a modern game showing that the freedom and wordless mystery of the first Legend of Zelda still work. Quote: "none of these Soulslike games can capture that feeling, because - at this point - they're completely familiar."
Shovel Knight and Nailing Nostalgia
It follows the four principles by drawing on A Link to the Past, Mega Man Zero, Miyazaki films and Diablo. It pairs oblique retro challenge with analogue controls and liberal checkpoints, and its unique palette shows more on screen than a Super NES would.
Hyper Light Drifter mixed retro challenge with modern comforts and a new palette. It borrows from A Link to the Past, Mega Man Zero, Miyazaki films and Diablo, and stays challenging and oblique like a good retro game while adding smooth analogue controls and liberal checkpoints.
Its 16-bit pixel art uses a unique colour palette and shows more on screen than a Super NES game could. Mark Brown uses it as a case that meets all four of his nostalgia principles: borrow widely, keep the best of the source, modernise what did not work, and present it with a rose-tinted retro look.
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