Interview: Temple Door Games Talks Swordcery, Shark Swords, and Filling Entire Levels with Logs
When a game’s origin story starts with a dream about a giant pizza cutter sword, you know you’re in for something special.
We recently caught up with Temple Door Games to chat about their upcoming roguelite Swordcery, a game built around one simple philosophy: more swords is always better. Whether that’s a lightning-infused katana, a pair of scissors, or an actual great white shark, Swordcery isn’t interested in playing it safe.
We spoke about the game’s unusual origins, the challenges of creating dozens of unique weapons, and why accidentally filling an entire level with logs might be one of the highlights of development.
Quickfire Round
First console/system you ever owned?
A Super Nintendo. It was a Christmas gift shared with cousins, and one of the first games they played was Zombies Ate My Neighbors, which remains a favourite to this day.
Favourite boss fight of all time?
The final showdown in Metal Gear Solid. After destroying Metal Gear Rex, the hand-to-hand battle against Liquid Snake on top of the wreckage remains one of gaming’s most memorable moments.
Go-to snack during crunch?
BBQ chips.
Pizza topping that must survive the apocalypse?
Pepperoni.
One game you’d love to experience again for the first time?
Final Fantasy X. Thanks to a local memory card shortage, they ended up leaving a PlayStation 2 running for three straight days while searching for somewhere that actually had one in stock.
The Birth of Swordcery
At its core, Swordcery is a roguelite focused entirely around absurd weaponry.
Swordcery is a roguelite where you wield the most unhinged swords known to man, ranging from badass lightning katanas to a pair of scissors or even an ACTUAL great white shark.
The original idea arrived in a dream featuring a hero carrying a giant pizza cutter sword. What started as a funny concept quickly snowballed into an entire day of brainstorming weapon ideas inspired by puns, food, pop culture references, and whatever else felt ridiculous enough to work.
Fortunately, the answer turned out to be “almost anything.”
The Challenge of Too Many Swords
Creating a roguelite is already a complex undertaking, but Swordcery adds another layer of chaos by making every weapon behave differently.
According to Temple Door Games, that’s been one of the biggest technical hurdles throughout development.
Every sword comes with its own unique ability, effectively making each one a separate gameplay mechanic. Then the team decided those swords should also be upgradeable, with enhanced versions of their abilities creating even more combinations to balance and develop.
It’s the kind of idea that sounds fantastic when you’re designing it on paper and slightly terrifying once you realise you actually have to build it.
Watching the World Come Alive
For a studio made up of animators, one of the most rewarding moments wasn’t a complex gameplay breakthrough or a major technical achievement.
It was simply seeing their creations move.
We’re both animators so seeing that moment of ‘wow, my enemies are actually walking to me and trying to kill me in my own game’ is just special.
It’s a reminder that sometimes the biggest milestones are the simplest ones.
A Shark Is Technically a Sword
When asked what they’re most proud of, the answer wasn’t a specific mechanic or feature.
It’s the sheer variety.
Not every weapon is designed to be the strongest choice, but each one aims to be memorable and entertaining in its own way. In a genre often obsessed with optimisation, there’s something refreshing about embracing silliness for the sake of fun.
And honestly, any game that lets you attack monsters with a shark deserves some credit.
The Great Log Incident
Every game has bugs.
Some are frustrating.
Others become legendary.
While testing a ninja katana ability that allows players to substitute themselves with a log when attacked, the team accidentally forgot to limit how many logs could be spawned.
The result?
The entire level became completely filled with logs.
As far as development disasters go, that’s one of the more entertaining ones.
Mass spawning of an object always makes me smile. I’m a simple man.
Fair enough.
Why Players Should Keep an Eye on Swordcery
If you’re a fan of melee-focused roguelites like Hades or Ravenswatch, Swordcery is aiming squarely at that audience.
Just with considerably more swords.
And if Temple Door Games could leave players with one lasting impression, it’s a simple one:
Man, that was a lot of swords.
Mission accomplished.
Looking Ahead
The team is currently focused on preparing Swordcery for its upcoming Early Access launch later this year, with more details still to come.
As for dream collaborations?
They’re not aiming too high.
They’d simply love to see streamers of any size jump into the game.
Although if Taco Bell happened to come calling, they’re more than willing to add a Chalupa Sword.
We’re not saying that needs to happen.
We’re just saying we’d absolutely use it.
Wishlist Swordcery
If Swordcery sounds like your kind of chaos, you can support Temple Door Games by checking out the demo and adding the game to your Steam wishlist.
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/YNMYDr7
X / Twitter: https://x.com/TempleDoorGames
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/templedoorgames.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swordcery/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@templedoorgames
Swordcery is shaping up to be exactly what its name suggests: a magical adventure where the solution to every problem is finding an even more ridiculous sword.