GORN, from indie developer Free Lives, is designed to do one thing well: make hitting things feel undeniably great in VR. A cartoony arcade brawler, GORN throws you into a colosseum full of gladiators in a bloody test of endurance where your only means of survival is medieval cutlery like swords, maces, and giant hammers. What makes GORN unique is the feel of these weapons in your virtual hands. Every swing and thrust has real heft and serious oomph, so everything feels just right, whether you’re swinging an axe or jabbing someone with a spear. And today, we’re excited to announce GORN is now available on Rift, so jump in and start hacking!

Newcomers will find 20 weapons and eight distinct warriors. Choosing the right combination is a matter of preference, as each boasts unique advantages. Those looking for something truly bizarre can play as the game’s one-and-only non-human combatant—The Crustacean Crusader. The man-sized sea creature uses gigantic claws to shear limbs and snap torsos, making him a comically gruesome—and savagely efficient—addition to GORN’s roster of fighters.

We sat down with Free Lives Game Designer Ruan Rothmann to find out why GORN isn’t your everyday gladiator game.

What originally sparked the idea for a cartoonish gladiator simulator like GORN?

Ruan Rothmann: The rise of VR has been exciting for us as game developers. Room-scale, in particular, opens up entirely new possibilities, and right now there are undiscovered genres to explore. In the early days of VR, we saw people playing games like #SelfieTennis and Budget Cuts, and it seemed like people were having more fun playing with ragdoll physics than actually playing the game. We felt a game based on messing with ragdolls in VR might be good. We had already done prototypes featuring physics animation, and a gladiator setting seemed like a natural fit.

Arena combat is a bloody affair, but GORN is purposefully brash with violence—what were your thoughts behind that design decision?

RR: GORN’s relationship with violence has been interesting. I find games that portray “realistic” violence unsettling, and I typically don’t play games that feature real wars. I don’t feel there’s anything wrong with creating or enjoying those works— it’s just not for me. On the other hand, I’ve never found cartoon violence offensive or unsettling, depending on the context and tone. Canonically, the gladiators in GORN are there of their own volition, so the violence is consensual, for whatever that’s worth.

Perhaps the gladiator setting is far enough removed from modern-day life that I don’t feel the game portrays any real suffering at all. Still, it’s been interesting to see how many people have embraced the violence in the game as its headline feature, even though “make hitting things feel good” was far higher of a priority than making the goriest game we could. I’m not sure why humans are inclined towards the macabre, but working on GORN has certainly reminded me of this fact. Still, I don’t think bloodlust should be a prerequisite to enjoy the game, so we’ve included a low-violence option, which changes all the enemies to candy-filled gladiator piñatas.

Can you talk about developing and testing GORN’s robust physics engine?

Ruan Rothmann: “Robust” might be a bit of an overstatement. It has certainly been a learning experience. One of the early challenges was giving objects an illusion of weight and solving the usual “waggle of death” in some VR combat games. We wound up with a silly solution: rubbery weapons. We aim to have as much simulated as we can to allow for as much immersion and creativity as possible. For instance, the weight of a weapon should influence how a gladiator swings it. It does mean things glitch at times, or animations don’t look optimal, but when something unexpected—but amazing—happens, hopefully that makes up for it. We’re constantly surprised by new tricks players come up with that we didn’t realize were possible.

How did the team playtest weapons and items to optimize their feel during combat?

RR: We’ve been very reliant on feedback from players in determining what feels too powerful, what doesn’t feel powerful enough, or what’s unwieldy. When a player sees an object in VR, they tend to have some intuitive expectation of how that object should work. By watching players and listening to feedback, we try to figure out what that intuitive expectation is, and then we try to find a way to implement it.

What has the community response been like so far?

RR: The response so far has been quite overwhelming—I don’t think we expected GORN to be as well received as it has been. The contributions and feedback of the community have been invaluable in shaping the game up to this point.

What best practices learned from your previous games helped inform GORN’s overall design and gameplay?

RR: I think Broforce taught us a lot in terms of not taking ourselves too seriously, to put the designer-centric mentality aside and let players break the game if they want. The concept of emergent humor also comes from Broforce’s development—the idea isn’t to include scripted jokes in the game, but rather to build systems that allow for unexpected and funny emergent results. We’ve also learned the value of having an Early Access campaign and how to use player feedback to improve the game.

What can players expect in terms of weapon selection and player progression?

RR: In its current state, GORN has 20 unique weapons, eight champions, and eight unlockable caestūs, each changing players’ tactics. Whether you want to overpower your enemies with a giant war hammer, parry and riposte with a rapier, or fight safely from range with a bow, GORN caters to all playstyles.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Ruan!

Check out GORN on Rift today—we’ll see you in the colosseum!

— The Oculus Team