A co-op multiplayer roguelite version of Fortnite: Lort preview

Last week, I had the chance to meet the brand new studio for the first time, Big Distraction. That’s the name of the studio; I’m not trying to create a diversion. Big Distraction is a small eleven-person studio made up of veterans from triple-A productions. The two CEOs both come from Epic Games, where they worked on Fortnite, but the rest of the team has worked with other major studios like Blizzard, Raven Software, Machine Games, DICE, and more. The team explained the vision and the philosophy behind the studio’s debut multiplayer roguelite game, Lort.

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During the Discord call, the co-CEOs shared several slides to walk through the process of founding this studio and working on Lort. At one point, they put up a slide with six games that inspired this one. Those games included great multiplayer titles like Deep Rock Galactic. Big Distraction’s goal with Lort is to create a game that everyone at the studio enjoys, not just the two people in charge. They have had weekly playtests throughout production, which began early last year. Each playtest could nearly the whole Big Distraction team because Lort allows for up to eight players total.

Lort is an action roguelite about exploring a wide-open map and fighting swarms of enemies. At the time of this preview, we saw three playable characters: the classic Warrior, the Ranger, and the Wizard. Trapped in this strange fantasy realm, the characters must take on challenging missions to earn ingredients and escape. Gather resources, find new weapons and upgrades, defeat bosses, and by the end of each run, the team expects you to feel like you’ve somehow broken the game.

Setting Expectations

First of all, this was a hands-off preview. I unfortunately did not get a chance to play Lort myself. I think that would lend itself to a better impression. Not only is it hard to get a good sense of what I’m seeing when there’s so much happening on the screen at once, but from what the team at Big Distraction talked about, how the game feels to play is a core pillar of their design philosophy. They want players to be able to get into a flow state and want to ensure that “pushing buttons feels good.” I can take their word for it, and it all sounds good, but it’s hard to know if that was accomplished without pushing the buttons myself.

Also, as a game created with multiplayer in mind, I get the sense that a lot of the fun will come from playing online with a group of friends. Games like Risk of Rain 2 and Deep Rock Galactic are great games on their own, but a big part of the reason they are so popular is due to that emphasis on multiplayer. That’s usually the joy of playing multiplayer games from the start. I just wanted to establish these things up front to not only set your expectations for this preview, but also explain the context in which I got to experience Lort for the first time.

Based on the planned development cycle, we shouldn’t expect to see a more polished version of Lort until 2026. Development started at the very beginning of 2024, and they are scoping to release within two years. Of course, this is the studio’s first project together, so there are bound to be some bumps in the road here and there. But, it’s good to at least understand how far along this game is at the time we are seeing this initial trailer.

Third-Person Shooter Roots

As someone who does not play Fortnite, I can’t help thinking that Lort looks a lot like the massively popular third-person battle royale. It has fewer guns, there’s no building, and it’s PvE rather than PvP. But the bright colorful aesthetic, cool but cartoonish characters, right down to the character movement and animations, look a lot like the iconic battle royale game. This makes a lot of sense given to two CEO’s history with the game, but it’s not something that particularly appeals to me personally. Lort’s third-person shooter roots are fairly clear.

But there are many reasons that Fortnite is as popular as it is. While it may not be right up my alley, I could absolutely see Lort tapping into that same audience. The familiarity, combined with a more cooperative multiplayer experience, could be exactly what some Fortnite fans are craving right now. Lort interests me far more than jumping into a game of Fortnite right now.

The inspirations are clear, but that’s not to say this is a completely iterative experience. Lort finds ways to make itself stand out. One of the bosses we were able to get a sneak peek of was a huge giant, who could quite literally step on the characters and crush them. Many of the weapons have powerful attacks that can add to your traversal options, such as the hammer, which allows the characters to use a powerful leaping strike. This is helpful for the various platforming puzzles that can be encountered out in the world. One of my favorite details is how, when an ally is defeated, the other players have to dig them out of their grave to bring them back.

A Promising Prospect

The three major classes might not be anything surprising, but the team is not shying away from unconventional combinations. Any character can use any weapon. The Wizard can use a gun, a hammer, or a sword, among many more options. Character strengths are chosen by investing in three main stats: Strength, Agility, and Intelligence. A strength-focused Wizard might not be the perfect build, but Big Gigantic wants to allow players to try that out and at least have fun with it.

The map is procedurally generated, but the bosses are not. There is some variety in choosing the level of difficulty with the bosses, but the randomness and challenge will come from what items and weapons you find along the way. The gnome shopkeepers also seem like a great addition to this cartoonish, brutal, but funny world.

From watching the trailer and gameplay, the magic of the Wizard seems like the most fun gameplay style. The Warrior enjoys running into melee, while the Ranger fulfills that third-person shooter style gameplay. But the Wizard is casting spells, launching huge spheres of magical energy, and lighting the ground on fire. During the preview, we also got the chance to see the Wizard use a magical sword, which deals damage based on Intelligence rather than Strength. This does force the Wizard into melee range, where a few well-placed hits could knock them out. This feels like a great example of an optional high-risk, high-reward scenario that pushes the player to make interesting choices during gameplay.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Lort shows a lot of potential. This is a debut game from a small studio, and we are at least a year away from getting close to a full launch. Over the next few months, the team will be able to add more polish, improve mechanics, and add more to the game, especially with fans finally able to share their immediate and impressions. This is a huge step for Big Distraction; essentially announcing their existence as a studio alongside their first game is a big deal.

It’s ultimately difficult to gauge a proper impression from a hands-off preview like this. This highly action-oriented multiplayer game will live and die by how fun it is to physically play, and how great it is to jump in with friends. But the team at Big Distraction is making a lot of good calls. Multiplayer rooms have simple codes to , and when you introduce a new player, you won’t have to wait for them while they spend twenty minutes on a tutorial. Two clicks and you’re in the game. All of these design choices sound like a team that is thinking a lot about the multiplayer experience, and that’s probably because they are playtesting every day.

I look forward to learning more about Lort, and I especially look forward to learning what other people think about this new game. If this does look interesting, you can wishlist the game on Steam now. It’s not only a great way to this newly independent team in creating the best game they possibly can, but Steam will send you an email whenever there’s a major update for Lort, like if they release a demo or playtest. I know I’ll personally be looking forward to the possibility of getting a hands-on experience sometime in the future.

• indie games
• multiplayer
• co-op
• roguelike / roguelite
• PC