Under a Rock Interview – Setting, Traversal, Base Building, and More

The survival genre is flourishing right now in a way it never has, with a variety of developers putting their own unique spin on it with games that have captured players in different ways. One upcoming survival title that has caught the eye in particular is Under a Rock, which sees players playing as a 19th century explorer in a strange, fantasy land. Featuring a vibrant and gorgeous aesthetic and the promise of an addictive loop focused on exploration, base building, and more, Under a Rock has looked like quite an intriguing prospect so far. To learn more about the game and what it’ll bring to the table, we recently reached out to the folks behind, and learned quite a bit in the process. Below, you can read our interview with Manuel Berbesi, Senior Product Manager for Under a Rock at publisher Gameforge and Thorbjørn Olsen, Co-Founder of developer Nordic Trolls and Producer for Under a Rock.

"Under a Rock distinguishes itself in a crowded genre through its carefully chosen period setting, offering players a unique, fun experience that will reflect itself not only through the visuals but also through some of the mechanics and surprises that players will find in their journeys."

Under a Rock’s period setting looks like it’s going to set the experience apart from others in quite a crowded genre. What can players expect from it in terms of its unique elements, environmental variety, and how much it will encourage exploration?

Under a Rock distinguishes itself in a crowded genre through its carefully chosen period setting, offering players a unique, fun experience that will reflect itself not only through the visuals but also through some of the mechanics and surprises that players will find in their journeys.

The game features a diverse range of environments, each with its own distinct elements, encouraging exploration. Our procedural generation approach ensures that no two experiences are exactly alike as they traverse through the world, gliding, grappling, climbing, diving, and more!

How does the game strike a balance between being procedurally generated while still giving players enough reason to go out and explore its world with unique locations and rewards?

Balancing procedural generation with meaningful exploration is a key focus. While the game’s world is procedurally generated, we’ve meticulously designed different locations and rewards to appeal to the player’s sense of accomplishment. Players will find that each journey holds the promise of discovering something new and exciting, encouraging them to venture into other players’ worlds and deliver a high level of replayability.

From underwater exploration to caves and more, it looks like players in Under a Rock will be traversing through a variety of different locations. What does that mean for the game’s traversal mechanics? Will the game feature multiple methods of traversal depending on where players find themselves?

Absolutely. From underwater exploration to soaring through the skies with a glider to traversing caves, climbing heights, or using the grappling hook anywhere, Under a Rock offers a variety of wild locations. Whether swimming through the depths or riding a dodo, the game adapts its mechanics to the specific challenges posed by each location. The creatures players will find and the gadgets they will learn to craft along their adventures will bring an element of fun to traversal.

Under a Rock has a very pleasant and distinct visual style. How did you land on this look for the game?

The game’s pleasant and distinct visual style idea was born out of several internal discussions among the Nordic Trolls. Daniel Arnold-Mist (Nordic Trolls Art Director) took it forward and made it awesome based on how their procedural technology has been progressing. Bringing CGI-style graphics to games and the team’s passion for the survival genre have been part of Nordic Trolls’ key vision for the game’s concept from the start. This graphics style has the objective to bring something fresh to the survival genre.

"Bringing CGI-style graphics to games and the team’s passion for the survival genre have been part of Nordic Trolls’ key vision for the game’s concept from the start."

How expansive will the game’s base building mechanics be? Is this a part of the experience that players should expect improvements from throughout the early access period?

Base-building in Under a Rock is an expansive aspect of the gameplay, offering players the opportunity to shape and customize their home bases as a foothold in some potentially dangerous environments. We anticipate continuous improvements throughout the early access period based on player feedback, ensuring that the base-building experience evolves to meet the community’s expectations in a way that is dynamic, personal, fun, and easy to navigate.

What can you tell us about the experience’s creature taming and breeding side of things? What level of variety will the game have on that front, and how helpful will tamed creatures be in different tasks?

The game’s creature taming and breeding mechanics provide players with a diverse range of options. The variety of creatures available for taming is extensive, and each brings unique attributes. Tamed creatures become valuable allies, offering assistance and companionship on the player’s journey. More on this as we continue to develop and enhance this feature.

How vast and varied will the game’s character creation toolset be?

The character creation toolset is designed to allow players to express themselves and create characters that suit their individual preferences. Players will have various options to personalize their in-game avatar. Further customization options will become available in the form of not just gear and accessories but also other fun items players will be able to unlock on special occasions, such as in-game and seasonal events.

What sort of cadence of updates and additions should players expect for Under a Rock during its early access period?

During the early access period, players can expect a regular cadence of updates and additions. We are committed to delivering new content, addressing player feedback, and refining the gaming experience based on the evolving needs and desires of the community.

Do you have any plans to also bring the game to the Nintendo Switch down the line, or the Switch 2 perhaps?

While there are currently no concrete plans for a Nintendo Switch release, we’re open to exploring possibilities in the future, including potential releases on new platforms or consoles.

"We anticipate continuous improvements throughout the early access period based on player feedback, ensuring that the base-building experience evolves to meet the community’s expectations in a way that is dynamic, personal, fun, and easy to navigate."

Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series’ specs back in 2020, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS. How much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

The differences in GPU speeds between the PS5 and Xbox Series X are considered in the development process, but our goal is to optimize the game to deliver an excellent experience on both platforms. The impact of these differences is carefully managed to ensure a high-quality gaming experience for all players, and we have a dedicated QA team that will help us test this on all the current platforms as we enter later stages of development.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. How can developers take advantage of this, and how does this compare to the Xbox Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?

Under a Rock performs smoothly even on a standard HDD, meeting our minimum specifications. The primary challenge during development lies in accommodating various configurations, as optimization efforts may require additional time for different setups.

What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S?

We are working closely with our partners to deliver a smooth gaming experience on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, targeting high frame rates and resolutions. High-performing DLSS and FSR is a priority. Specific targets may vary during development and will be optimized to ensure the best possible performance on each platform. More on this later as we continue to work on some functional aspects that will affect the final outcome.

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