Hi everyone!
After introducing the Road system in our previous update, this time we’d like to present another important map type that stands alongside roads — Areas.
Areas are map tiles that occupy a single grid space but have a larger visual footprint than roads. They are interwoven between road tiles and may appear as players gradually uncover the fog of war. In the current design, Areas share the same directional layouts as roads, with five possible variants, and the number of Areas on each floor is fixed.
The concept of Areas actually emerged relatively late in the map design process. You can think of them as rest zones or communal spaces, created to allow players to perform certain actions that are frequently needed but not available at all times — such as resting.
In the game, resting is one of the primary ways to recover the party’s stamina. While some food items can also restore stamina, nothing is quite as effective or straightforward as getting proper rest. Early on, players were only allowed to rest inside rooms. However, as the variety of room types expanded, we began to reconsider the functional clarity of each room. At one point, we even designed several room types that were especially suited for resting, such as staff dormitories, VIP lounges, and entertainment rooms. Our intention was that players could immediately associate these spaces with rest simply through their names or visuals.
However, designing too many rooms with similar purposes risked diluting the identity of each space. As a result, the concept of Areas naturally took shape, serving as a consolidated map tile that supports these shared functions.
Of course, resting is not the only thing Areas are meant for. We are also planning to introduce a system that allows players to earn additional resources during their journey — Blood Donation. As the name suggests, this mechanic allows players to convert a selected character’s HP into in-game currency (CV), creating a deliberate trade-off between risk and reward.
Compared to roads, Areas also have a higher chance of triggering events, offering more variation and unexpected encounters as players explore the map.
Looking ahead, we plan to further enhance the visual presentation of Areas, making them more clearly distinguishable from other map tiles and improving overall readability and atmosphere during exploration.
Thank you for reading!