Hi!

Thanks for joining us once again for the Hopoo Games Dev Thoughts! Today we’ll be taking a closer look at the new game mode coming in Risk of Rain Returns: Providence Trials.

I’d recommend watching the video version of the Dev Thoughts as you’ll be able to fully appreciate the footage of the trials as well as seeing an exclusive gameplay sample at the end, but if the written version is your cup of tea let’s dive in and take a quick look at the big guy himself…

A couple of weeks ago we reached out to the community asking for some fan art of Providence to celebrate the reveal of the Providence Trials, and as always you didn’t disappoint! Here are some of my faves…

First up is the artwork by DragonRoIlZ that was so good I’ve used it as the header image for the Dev Thoughts, this fantastic piece of Providence and his Gilded Wurms:

Here’s a fantastic piece by NF89 titled “Bulwark’s Mourning” – I wonder what Providence is upset about here, I hope he didn’t do something completely diabolical with that teleporter…

And lastly this comic book inspired piece by w0ahdood really grabbed my attention:

Thank you to everyone who submitted fan-art, you’ve all been given a unique role on Discord to flex with!

If you want to see all the submissions make sure you join the Risk of Rain Discord and follow this link!

https://discord.com/channels/417739215355510784/559901517985873921/1088441451442086038

…and you can browse all the submissions! – and now on to the main event…

New to Risk of Rain Returns are the brand new Providence Trials – dozens of fun single player mini-game challenges each using a different Survivor with a different set of abilities, each on a custom stage.

Some trials test your mobility skills, others your combat effectiveness and others your survivability, all skills that serve you well in Risk of Rain Returns. Many of the trials even unlock alternate abilities for the Survivors for use in the main game, along with some other secret unlockables…

There are over 40 different trials planned for release – today I’m going to showcase three of my personal favorites with you, starting with a mobility-focused trial for Loader.

Racing against the clock the goal of this Trial is to gain points by collecting as many coins as you possibly can scattered throughout the custom stage while avoiding attacks from Swifts and Mushrooms.

Along with points you can also collect items to speed up your progress, a combination of Hardlight Afterburners, Hopoo Feathers and Backup Magazines can be found to aid you, along with some custom Bonus Stock pickups for your skills.

Utilise your grapple hook and your new ability Short Circuit to navigate the stage as fast as possible – A passing grade for this trial currently sits at 40 points – but the truly skilled can aim for the golden crown score of 70 points.

Next up, test your combat effectiveness against 4 rows of slowly encroaching enemies with this trial featuring Sniper.

Confined to a small section in the centre of the stage you must use your abilities carefully to inflict damage to as many enemies as you can while carefully prioritising which row you think poses the greatest threat – if any enemy reaches the centre its game over.

When you reach certain point thresholds, items (with a small degree of randomness) spawn in your cage to help you reach the higher scores.

As time marches on the enemies that spawn get stronger and faster making some real panic moments where a perfectly executed active reload can make the difference between success and failure.

Finally let’s take a look at a strategy-focussed trial featuring Engineer. Set on a small custom stage the start of the trial is triggered by collecting either ATG Missiles or Prison Shackles from the center platform.

Once started, groups of enemies spawn on the stage in waves and you have full use of your abilities to defeat them. Between waves 2 new items spawn and you have to pick between them before increasingly difficult enemies start to spawn. If either you or one of your turrets dies before you achieve the target score, you fail the trial.

Will you increase your survivability by picking healing and utility items? Or will you focus on increasing your damage to kill the enemies as efficiently as possible? Pick carefully and plan your strategy to ensure success in this trial!

Don’t forget these are just three of the 40+ of Providence Trials coming in Risk of Rain Returns. We can’t wait for you to try them all later this year!

Hungry for more information about Risk of Rain Returns? Starting tomorrow on the Hopoo Games YouTube and Tiktok every few days I’ll be posting a new mini video giving exclusive info on different aspects and content in Risk of Rain Returns.

There will be 50 videos in total each showcasing different parts of the game, new items, new monsters, new features and much much more – make sure you’re following us on the platform of your choice to not miss out!

YouTube
TikTok

A couple of reminders before we draw todays Dev Thoughts to a close:

Don’t forget to give the game a Wishlist on Steam –

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1337520/Risk_of_Rain_Returns/

Make sure you’re following us on our YouTube and TikTok linked above as well as our Twitch and Twitter for the latest on Risk of Rain Returns

Make sure you check out the video Dev Thoughts at the top of the page for an exclusive gameplay clip featuring Artificer who is making her 2d debut after first appearing in Risk of Rain 2…

…and speaking of new Survivors, join us next time when you’ll get an exclusive reveal of the first all new Survivor joining the roster in Risk of Rain Returns…

Cya then!

Jonathan
Hopoo Games
Community Manager