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Lurks Within Walls Interview
At long last players, who are skittish about their reaction time in a survival horror can rejoice. Developer Here Be Monsters has taken first-person turn-based gameplay and combined it with the atmosphere of a horror title, complete with terrifying monster designs and a tense soundtrack to create Lurks Within Walls. RPGamer had the opportunity to sit down with the developers, who can be followed here on their X profile, to ask some questions about the game, which readers can learn more about at (the game's Steam page).
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Ryan Costa (RPGamer): Lurks Within Walls has the atmosphere of a survival horror but the gameplay of a turn-based dungeon crawler. What made you decide to blend the two genres?
@HereBeMonstersX: One of the main references is the now 30-year-old Resident Evil, especially the classic titles. Exploring corridors, finding items, managing resources, and surviving threats are the same actions we find in classic dungeon crawlers RPGs. Combined with first-person exploration, where each movement reveals new dangers, it felt like a perfect and underexplored combination. That was essentially where the idea for Lurks Within Walls was born.
RPGamer: The sound design is incredibly on point. How difficult was it to find a way to make every step feel full of tension?
HBMX: Thank you. This also aligns with the classics: being in a corridor, hearing something strange, and not having full control of a freely movable 3D camera helps build tension. The limitation forces us to find more controlled solutions, which ultimately helps us as well.
RPGamer: Trevor Henderson's creature designs shown so far are thoroughly unsettling. Did you ever reach a point where the bestiary risked being too large?
HBMX: We’re fans of Trevor Henderson; the more monsters, the better. Jokes aside, we now have another illustrator helping us, as well as an animator. Implementing the monsters into the 3D environments also requires extra effort so we don’t lose Trevor Henderson’s characteristic “cursed image” effect. I believe we’ll have the ideal number of monsters for the game’s scope.
RPGamer: Players can choose different body parts to attack; how might strategies born from this evolve as the game progresses?
HBMX: Yes, the demo version has already evolved. Today we’re more focused on the arsenal and the skills you can use with each tool. For example, you might have a shotgun and choose a headshot to deal a powerful critical hit but with a higher chance of failure, or use a “knockback shot,” with a lower chance of failure and a chance to push the enemy back. This way, the player can customize which weapons to bring and which skills to apply to each one, without making the system complex, while still allowing an extra layer of management and progression.
RPGamer: With multiple paths, do the choices permeate across the entire game or within isolated sections? How large of an impact can they have?
HBMX: This is where we need to be careful not to spoil the experience, but let’s say the floors are connected to each other, and many of them feature secondary or alternative paths. Combine this with new characters who have distinct actions and access options, and we start to have a structure that allows for varied experiences between sessions.
RPGamer: For those that are squeamish, will there be jump scares included in the gameplay from moving enemies, or is it isolated to story scenes?
HBMX: We’ll have some special moments, as seen in the demo, but the scares are spread throughout the environment and exploration. Imagine walking through a corridor full of slamming doors and, as you pass them, hearing one being forced open. Do you look back? Do you stop and wait? Or do you keep moving without ever turning around? Exploring in first person with classic dungeon crawler controls has allowed us to create situations that traditional first-person exploration games wouldn’t. At times, it even feels like cinema, where you control the framing; the difference is that ours is a game and allows interaction.
RPGamer: Are the locations for treasure and monsters set, or is there an aspect of randomness for every playthrough?
HBMX: Not entirely random, but rather modular. Using the example above, if there’s a corridor full of doors and you’ve already experienced that event, but you’re playing again and passing through the same area, imagine that the doors don’t slam this time, or that they’re all open. Maintaining this uncertainty increases tension and also allows for different experiences, rewarding new attempts and replay.
RPGamer: Will there be a form of map that players can use, or is the sense of claustrophobia and panic aimed at keeping players feeling lost?
HBMX: Maps are a major dilemma in first-person dungeon crawlers, because many players end up focusing on the map, prioritizing a top-down perspective and compromising the first-person experience. Although I’ve already answered the question indirectly, LWW is a horror game inspired by survival horror, so maps play an important role. We want to integrate them better into the game: imagine a floor-plan map displayed on a wall, indicating emergency exits, or a computer showing which rooms have been unlocked. Yes, we will have maps, but conditionally, not as a feature that compromises the intended experience.
RPGamer: Will player decisions just result in combat-related deaths, or can those characters die from other means as well? Related to that, with a police officer shown at the end of the demo, does death result in a game over, or does perspective just transfer to another character?
HBMX: In addition to combat, there are traps and events that come at an HP cost. Even player progression may allow improvements at a price. The demo introduces the dynamic of experiencing other characters’ perspectives; in the full game, you’ll have similar moments. Saying more than that might be a spoiler.
RPGamer: Is there anything that you would like to share about the game not mentioned above?
HBMX: Beyond classic references, we also love modern games, especially board games and RPGs. So, in addition to inspirations from Resident Evil and Legend of Grimrock, you’ll find influences from tabletop RPGs, ranging from modern Dungeons & Dragons hacks to the award-winning old-school revival RPG Shadowdark.
Finally, thank you for the space and the opportunity to present the game’s behind-the-scenes. Lurks Within Walls is the game we would like to play, and that’s why it came into existence.
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RPGamer would like to thank the developers, Here Be Monsters, for their time answering questions about Lurks Within Walls, as well as Sarah Blackwell and Stride PR for making it all happen. Those looking forward to this tense turn-based horror dungeon crawler can check out (the game's Steam page).
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