Rethinking Treasure Chests: Exploration, Rewards, and Roguelite Challenges

Another example of how changing one system ripples through others: treasure chests. With various pivots, the role of these seemingly straightforward loot containers has shifted dramatically.

In the original, more narrative-driven ARPG with a bespoke Metroidvania-style world, chests played a traditional role—rewards for exploration in hand-picked spots with fixed rewards. But once I had to drop the hand-crafted, interconnected levels, they became more typical randomized loot dispensers. That system held until the roguelite pivot reached its conclusion, and I ultimately removed randomly generated items altogether.

At that point, I momentarily had no idea what to do with treasure chests. I still envisioned them as mini-exploration rewards, but their primary purpose had been almost guaranteed chances at normal or even exceptional random loot. Always giving out only gold felt boring. So I settled on a compromise: treasure chests would be the exclusive source of rare, randomized items. While these items aren’t the key to roguelite-style in-iteration power boosts, they still hold value helping to fill out some of the equipment slots that often might stay entirely without items for an entire run. Additionally, there's a rare chance to find level-appropriate upgrade materials.

Hades tackled a somewhat similar problem. Its small room-based format limited opportunities for exploration, so the designers sprinkled in numerous breakable pots that occasionally rewarded gold. A low-stakes but effective solution. While Echoes of Myth also has these I didn't feel I was happy with only the same approach.

When shifting to smaller, roguelite levels, I didn’t immediately recognize the need to rethink this. More recently, I landed on this formula:

• Each level contain 0 to 4 treasure spawn spots, always off the direct optimal path to the exit.
• If a level has no side paths, there are no treasure spawns—reinforcing their role as a minor but clear exploration reward.
• Any given level can have at most one chest.
• Fixed-probability spots are checked first; if no chest is placed there, the system makes a single die roll for the remaining spots and picks one if successful.

The spawning system for chests has also gone through iterations. The only constants: chests always spawn in predetermined potential locations and pull from a dedicated loot table. Originally, in the much larger levels, I used a configurable system where a maximum number of chests per 10 treasure spots could spawn.

An interesting suggestion came from an early playtester familiar with classic RPGs: the first couple of levels should have guaranteed hard-to-reach chests. This would immediately show new players that exploration is worthwhile. I’m implementing a system where, for the first two or three levels of the first five iterations, at least one chest will always spawn. Playtesting will determine if this needs fine-tuning.

Of course, further considerations arise. By iteration 10+, players will have seen many of the early levels and are likely shifting toward efficiency-driven play, optimizing routes rather than combing every corner. If treasure chests in obscure spots become too important, they risk turning from a fun reward into a frustrating chore. I don’t yet have a strong solution beyond the obvious “more unique content = less frustration from repetition,” but my tight scope and limited resources make that a challenge.

Treasure chests also connect to other systems, like mini-puzzles, though these are currently limited to the first level as a soft tutorial for ranged spells. For example, a rune-protected chest requires the player to use a ranged attack to break the rune, dispelling the shield around the chest and making it lootable. While simple, this interaction serves multiple purposes: introducing mechanics organically, reinforcing spell utility, and adding a minor layer of engagement to an otherwise straightforward loot system.

However, these elements remain open design questions, with a significant chance of being cut for scope reasons. While they add depth, the cost-to-benefit ratio is questionable—especially since roguelite progression inherently deprioritizes repeated puzzle-solving. A single, memorable encounter is useful for onboarding, but extending the mechanic throughout the game might not justify the additional design and implementation effort. Right now, it's an unresolved balance between mechanical depth and production efficiency—a recurring theme in development.

It's surprising how much thought has gone into something as simple as treasure chests—a testament to how interconnected game systems are. This also highlights a core challenge of game development (or any complex system design): you can’t pre-plan everything, and adaptability is mandatory. Even small mechanics have cascading effects, and every design choice—intended or not—will shape the player’s experience.