 Thorson said that the game started to come together about six months into its development . He tested the game on close friends once every few weeks and they would ask him when they could play it again . Thorson brought the game to the 2013 Evolution Championship Series fighting games tournament , where he unexpectedly received more praise than criticism . The game mechanics were inspired by games from Thorson 's youth . Upon reflection , he felt that the game had the item @-@ catching mechanics of Super Smash Bros. , the one @-@ hit kills and tension of Bushido Blade , the playfulness of Goldeneye 007 , the shooting mechanics of Yoshi 's Island , and the positioning strategy of Team Fortress 2 . He described his development process as tweaking Super Smash Bros. Melee to his tastes . The limited arrow design was intended to slow the gameplay and encourage player strategy . He considered adding online multiplayer , a popular request , but lacked the programming skills himself . The game 's medieval scenery came from his contemporary interest in the Game of Thrones book series and his pairing of the arrow mechanic with " stone @-@ walled castles and lava @-@ filled dungeons " . The player @-@ characters also have individual personalities and backstories that Thorson intended to elaborate in a " lore " section of an instruction manual . 
