Starting loadout choices
At the start of a run, players choose from initial weapons, characters, or configurations that shape the run's early direction and strategy. Hades's starting weapon aspects, Dead Cells' initial gear, and Enter the Gungeon's characters all let the player set a direction before the randomness begins. Designers use loadout choices to give players agency over an otherwise-random run, to create replayability through distinct starting archetypes, to let players pursue specific challenges or synergies, and to teach different playstyles. Key decisions: how many options and how distinct they are (mechanically different loadouts create real variety; stat tweaks don't), whether choices are unlocked progressively (gating advanced loadouts behind mastery), how much the start determines the whole run versus just the opening, and balance across options. Pitfall: if one loadout is clearly strongest, the choice collapses into a single optimal pick, and if loadouts barely differ, the choice is meaningless — each option should open a genuinely different path through the run, viable in its own way.
- Dev effort: Small
- Timing: Real-time or turn-based
- Common in: roguelike
Seen in
- Hades
- Dead Cells
- Enter the Gungeon