Cat Society Talks Dungeon Inn – Interview Series

Cat Society, an independent studio based in South Korea, has just lifted the veil on its latest inn-centric dungeon hybrid game, Dungeon Inn—a game that happens to feature a melting pot of business management elements, turn-based gameplay, and even a collection of nifty activities, to boot.

In an effort to learn more about the studio‘s latest project, I decided to reach out to the team.

We appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to speak with us about your upcoming title, Dungeon Inn. Before we peel back the scales of this project, though, would you mind introducing yourself to our readers and telling us a bit about Cat Society?

Cat Society is a small South Korean studio of three passionate developers focused on crafting visually beautiful and emotionally resonant games. We explore innovative gameplay and storytelling, aiming to create memorable experiences that leave a lasting impact on players.

Let’s open the book up on Dungeon Inn. Where did this idea originate, if you don’t mind me asking? What are the main inspirations behind the game?

It started with a friend and I playing a board game and thinking it would be fun to have adventurers and monsters in the same inn. The idea was that the adventurer would go to the dungeon to explore, and the monster would go to work. But the idea of a monster commuting to and from the inn every day felt awkward to me, so I changed it to two adventurer guilds. For the art, we drew a lot of inspiration from children’s book illustrations.

You’ve described Dungeon Inn as a “cozy turn-based management sim”. Would you mind elaborating a bit more on how the experience you want to bring to the players is what will be our role in the universe of the game?

We hope to provide players with a new, fun and cozy gameplay experience by introducing a new kind of gameplay. You play as Sara, the ambitious innkeeper trying to profit from two rival adventurer guilds. By your side, you have two trusty cat friends, Butter and Bami.

Let’s flip the coin to the other side—the one that depicts the darker side of inn management. Would you mind telling a bit more about the guild clashes aspect of the game?

The rivalry between the two guilds is a constant point of tension in the narrative. The two guilds come from two different cities who are both vying for the treasures and secrets of the dungeon. This means that if they were to meet each other, they would be fighting on sight. And if they begin to suspect that your inn is working with both sides, it could spell trouble for you!

We would love to grab a few pro tips on how to tackle this double-sided lifestyle. Could you explain a bit about how the game design has been thought to balance the two different styles of gameplay? Resource management and battle management?

Your first instinct might be to avoid all encounters between the two guilds but sometimes guild clashes are inevitable. The point is to use these clashes to your advantage because helping one side means gaining their trust as well!

And actually, resource management and battle management are intertwined! You need to manage your resources well to control the flow of adventurers and thus if or when battles will occur at your doorstep. And sometimes, instigating a battle in your inn can have some benefits, such as reducing suspicions or even gaining coins to upgrade your inn!

💚 DUNGEON INN IS AVAILABLE NOW!!! 💚

✨ Lure adventurers in
🔁 Turn-based strategy
🤫 Swindle your customers
🔨 Upgrade your inn

(Experiencing so. many. emotions!!!)#cozygaming #indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #unity #trailerthursday pic.twitter.com/MjCYbZtxi6

— Dungeon Inn: Cozy Turn-Based Game (@_DungeonInn) November 14, 2024

Let’s break away from Dungeon Inn for a moment. Outside of the upcoming management sim, are there any other concepts that you wanted to explore as a studio? If you’ve another project that you would like to introduce to us, then we would love to hear more about it/them!

We are currently focusing on making Dungeon Inn’s full release version and improving the game with the feedback that we will get from the early access release! We are planning to add Steam deck support and offer an endless mode too.

Now seems to be as good a time as any to stay up to date with all of the latest developments in the Cat Society portfolio. With that, we would appreciate it if you could share some useful social links, newsletters, or upcoming event details with our readers.

We are on Twitter and you can follow our Dungeon Inn account (https://x.com/_DungeonInn) or the Cat Society account (https://x.com/catsocietygames). Please follow us on TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@cozy.dungeon.inn)and join our Discord server (https://discord.com/invite/qXZyYvrr9s)! 

Our game is out in early access on 14 November and we are incredibly excited to share this game with everyone!

Is there anything you would like to add to the page before we wrap things up on our side?

Thank you, players and friends, for all your support! Follow us for the latest news about our game. We will continue to work towards the full version of Dungeon Inn and making it as fun and memorable as we can!

We appreciate your time and effort! Thanks again, and best of luck with the upcoming launch!

You can find more information on Cat Society’s Dungeon Inn on the official X channel here. You can also add the game to your wishlist on Steam for additional updates and post-launch coverage here.