Wild Countryis a cozy competitive card game where players battle other players and opponents via city-building elements across the animal-populated setting of Big Sky Canyon.Wild Countryalso lets players relax, explore, and engage in purposeful activities within its open-world environment in between card matches, something that seems strikingly different from the usual CCG gameplay formula that typically focuses on fantasy world-building, hardcore gameplay mechanics, and so forth.
WhileWild Countrystill offers players a high level of complexity within its mechanics, it also aims to accommodate beginner players to the genre, those that might not game often, and something for families and kids to play together.Wild Country’s multi-genre approach is perhaps also reflected by its multiple inspirations, with influences ranging from popular card games likeHearthstonetogames likeBanjo-Kazooie. Game Rant recently spoke with Lost Native CEO, co-founder, and design director Becky Matthew about what inspiredWild Country, includingBanjo-Kazooie, Nintendo games, and more.
How Banjo-Kazooie Inspired Wild Country
Banjo-Kazooieremains an iconic video game series that continues to inspire other gaming titles across history, with the original game being one of thebest 3D Nintendo 64 platformersof all time. Matthew spoke more about howBanjo-Kazooie’s tutorials inspired howWild Countryonboards card game beginners and new players through its world-based tutorial system, where players can meet and interact with NPC characters to learn about the game mechanics and more,
….some of the characters and the way that they tutorialize, and the way that they tutorialize things withinBanjo,are very along the same lines.
Interacting with Big Sky’sanimal video game populationthrough “adventure exploration” gameplay is also a way for players to get hold of new cards through activities like quests and mini-games. Matthew added collecting new cards also has “narrative relevance” that enables players to effectively tell “the story of the game within the deck itself” but also to gather decks geared up to the player’s preferred play styles. While players can also find a reference toBanjo-Kazooie’s main menu as part of their narrative journey to become the Mayor of Sun City, it was Disney’s animated movieZootopiathat significantly inspired the game’s visuals. As Matthew explained, “We’re also trying to aesthetically not lean into the fantastical side of things, so we use Zootopia a lot as our leading inspiration for the visuals.
In addition toBanjo-Kazooie’s tutorial systems, Matthew also spoke about how the team examined the video game tutorial systems of popularMariovideo gamesin addition to the systems and mechanics of traditional card game battlers. As Matthew explained,
We looked a lot atSpyro, we looked a lot atBanjo Kazooie. Then, we looked a lot at Mariogames, specificallyKingdom BattleandMario Odysseyto see how they tutorialize things to their Nintendo audience to guide what we’re doing here. We did look at card battlers likeRuneterraandMagic, but we use those as more of a reference of what they’re teaching rather than how they’re teaching it.
