Hey, hi!

I’m Alex, the game designer on Chariot, and I want to show you how to break everything with the Warp Beacon, one of the new gadgets in the Royal Gadget Pack DLC.

The Warp Beacon is clearly made for two different skill levels; it has a use for new players, and a use for veterans. Its “intended” use is as a temporary checkpoint. You put the beacon down and then activate it at any time to teleport the Chariot to it – along with any hitchhikers. It’s great for difficult platforming sections, since you have the extra safety of a reset button if you ever fall down. It also lets players do loot dives into dangerous territory; set a beacon outside a loot cave, go in and steal everything, then warp back before the looters can swarm you!

As far as its “unintended” use goes, advanced players with the Warp Beacon can actually break the game. By teleporting the Chariot by itself, it’s possible to send it to places it’s not supposed to go. This can lead to absolutely ridiculous speed run times in some levels, and sequence breaking in others – to a certain extent. However, there is one key area of the game that is designed to withstand these particular shenanigans. Sorry!

The original idea was a time warp gadget that lets players go back in time a few seconds. While totally awesome, this idea was technically very difficult to make. The compromise was teleporting to wherever you were a few seconds ago, but that felt limited and restrictive. Finally, we came up with the idea of having the gadget specifically affect the Chariot, letting players decide if they want to tag along for the ride – and that yielded the best result.

Additionally, the Warp Beacon is the only gadget with a two-step activation – if the timer runs out, no teleportation happens. This small change gives the gadget a lot more versatility.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time!