"Our goal is to create content that everyone enjoys": Poisonous Mushroom on Legion Defense debut, challenges, and more (Exclusive)

Legion Defense is the debut title of the indie game studio Poisonous Mushroom and was released on January 2, 2025. It is a turn-based strategy game in which players will protect Crystal and King from enemies or the environment with the help of heroes and mercenaries. What makes Legion Defense special is how a small team of three friends came together to develop their first indie title.

I had the opportunity to interact with the three brains behind this game: Fly Head (Producer), Jugg Wu (Developer/Tech Lead), and Dynasty Ye (Lead Designer). The trio is an integral part of Poisonous Mushroom and they shed light on how their debut title was conceptualized, how they plan to improve it, and the challenges they faced along the way.

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Poisonous Mushroom on Legion Defense debut, challenges, and more

Legion Defense gameplay (Image via Poisonous Mushroom)

Q) What inspired the creation of Legion Defense and how did the concept evolve over time?

Dynasty Ye: We grew tired of our monotonous lives and decided to embark on a more exciting journey. During a discussion about the direction of our lives, our producer, Fly Head, unexpectedly brought up our younger gaming days.

Back then, we were all passionate fans of Tower Defense games, often spending around ten yuan to rent a spot in an internet café for all-night gaming sessions of Warcraft 3. "Let's make a game," Fly Head suddenly suggested.

This sparked the idea of revisiting our youthful dreams, and we spent an entire night brainstorming the project. We envisioned a strategy game that didn't require intense gameplay, allowed for cooperative play, and featured both PvP and PvE elements.

However, only Jugg Wu, among us, had some basic technical knowledge, and our funds were limited. Facing the pressures of reality, we set a four-month deadline to complete the project, hoping to find a game editor that required minimal programming and ideally offered free art resources.

Fortunately, we found a game development tool called CliCli, which is similar to Roblox and perfectly suited to our needs. At that moment, I had a strong feeling that this game would definitely be completed successfully. Before long, it wasn't just Jugg Wu; the other two of us also began diving into designing character skills and adjusting the interface.

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Q) What methods were used to balance the game's difficulty, especially considering the diverse skill levels of potential players?

Jugg Wu: We primarily relied on a combination of numerical calculations and backend data analysis. As a small team, our goal was to create a fair and balanced gaming ecosystem, allowing players to explore from the same starting point.

Legion Defense contains a diverse cast of stunning heroes (Image via Poisonous Mushroom)

Once Ye completed the numerical calculations and implemented them into the game, our next step was to gather player feedback and analyze the data. By ensuring that each hero had distinct strengths during specific periods and establishing counter relationships, we could guarantee that the hero was relatively well-balanced.

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Q) Which is one mechanic in Legion Defense that makes it stand out from other titles in the market?

Fly Head: We believe that a major highlight of our game is that it doesn't require high-intensity operations and allows for cooperative combat. Most cooperative combat games on the market typically demand intense gameplay, so we have launched this strategy game that combines PVP and PVE elements.

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Q) Are there plans for additional content or updates for Legion Defense? If so, what can players anticipate in future releases?

Fly Head: Of course, we have plans for updates. We want to introduce more interesting heroes in the future. If we can generate some revenue and ensure long-term operation, we will add new in-game events and gameplay features.

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Q) How do you envision the game's community evolving, and what role do the developers play in fostering that growth?

Fly Head: We see the game's community as a key link between developers and players. Our goal is to create content that everyone enjoys, rather than just what we like but players might not. To do this, we'll proactively collect player feedback to make improvements to the game.

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Q) Developing a game with a small team is challenging. What will your message be for the game developers out there trying to make it on their own？

Fly Head: A small team working on a game should clearly understand their development timeline and capabilities. Choosing the right development approach and tools that fit the team will significantly improve their chances of survival and success in delivering projects.