We had a lot of fun playing Cryptmaster for our review, so we got in touch with Paul Hart and Lee Williams to talk a bit about the game and its development. Come check it out!
PS4Blog: Good morning! Thank you for joining us. Could you please help us get started by telling our readers a bit about yourself and your work?
We are two game developers who have been bouncing around the industry in various roles and with varying degrees of success for many years! Paul does the art and code, and Lee handles the writing (and for Cryptmaster, the VO). We’ve been collaborating on and off with one another for a long time, as well as working separately on a whole bunch of other things. We’ve always had a good working relationship, so when we both had a bit of space to try a new personal project, it seemed a natural choice to join forces.
PS4B: On that note, Cryptmaster is now available on PlayStation 5. How would you describe this release to someone who’s not heard about it?
That’s a consistently hard question! Cryptmaster is a dungeon-crawling, word-based puzzle RPG. It has been variously described as “Wordle in a crypt,” or “Mavis Beacon teaches necromancy,” as well as “Scrabble meets Inscryption”! It sounds very niche, but it has actually proven to have a rather broad appeal.
PS4B: How long did it take to develop the game? Did Cryptmaster change much between the original concept phase and the game we can now enjoy on Sony’s console?
It took about three years in total, and it was very much an iterative process. Cryptmaster actually started as a game about managing a pirate ship, and then it crept by stages into something completely different! Once we settled on the central premise of using words to handle all the interactions, the other elements gradually but naturally fell into place.
PS4B: Are you considering a port for Cryptmaster for the Switch or for Nintendo’s soon-to-be-revealed new console?
We are keen to consider all platforms, but unfortunately, a Switch port might not be possible for technical reasons. The game actually requires a bit more muscle than might be assumed.
PS4B: Any chance we might see a physical release for Cryptmaster on consoles?
Yes! There is a physical edition from Limited Run Games available for pre-order right now!
PS4B: And that’s all the time we have for today. Would you like to add anything else before we go?
Thank you for playing and spreading the word! The Cryptmaster is active on X and Bluesky (@thecryptmaster) and we post regular updates there.
