Roguelite city builder Super Fantasy Kingdom has been a big success, and now its developer can afford a luxury he's always dreamed of: 'A real winter jacket'

Roguelite city builder Super Fantasy Kingdom has been a big success, and now its developer can afford a luxury he's always dreamed of: 'A real winter jacket' Some developers react to success by going all rock star-like Cliff Bleszinski purchasing a flashy Lamborghini when he was living it up at Epic. Solo dev Feryas Beer is a little bit more grounded after the success of Super Fantasy Kingdom, the Hooded Horse-published roguelite city builder. No cars, no luxury pads, not even a Michelin Star meal. Nope, what Beer splashed out on was something a bit more understated: "A real winter coat". It's hard not to be charmed by this, just as I was when Zach Adams bought a humble Honda Civic after Dwarf Fortress shifted 800,000 copies. To be fair, he and his wife also purchased a house. But still, these are practical purchases rather than ridiculous spending sprees. Beer says his new coat is "a luxury that was somehow never important enough, but still something I always wanted". He spent four years making Super Fantasy Kingdom, and during that time he admits he was "just living for the game". He realises this "sounds horrible", but he loved it. "Having such a big goal to slowly work towards, something that has real meaning to you, is such a rewarding process. Software development [Beer's former job] was faster and easier for me, but you cannot really pour your heart into it. At the end of the day, it always felt a bit hollow." Super Fantasy Kingdom isn't finished yet, just launching in early access in October, but Beer is planning to make some changes to his work-life balance after pouring everything into the game for nearly half a decade. "I feel like I have to change things if I want to continue to do this long term. But the question remains the same: What’s best for the game? For example, right now I feel like I need new ideas. So my big goal for the holidays is being bored enough to play videogames again." The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. He definitely deserves a wee break. Super Fantasy Kingdom is sitting at Very Positive on Steam after more than 2,000 user reviews, with the most recent being Overwhelmingly Positive. And if fighting off waves of monsters in tower defence-style battles, or building up a bustling kingdom to finance your heroic wars, sounds like your thing, good news: Super Fantasy Kingdom is 35% off until January 5 on Steam. Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about...

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