Helldivers 2 lead says the game's farcical comedy was inspired by tabletop games like D&D—and he's nowhere near the first dev to worship at the altar of pen and paper

An image of a Helldiver from Helldivers 2 shooting at a red dragon from Dungeons & Dragons.

I've written a touch about Helldivers 2's slapstick deaths, reinforced by rapid respawns and a low punishment for beefing it—its Magika-esque friendly fire systems also contributing to its 'Warhammer 40k Gone Wrong' vibes. It joins Lethal Company as a game where dying is just inherently funny, each panicked, scrambling doom its own punchline.

Arrowhead Games history of games centred around friendly fire fun is—according to the studio's CEO and creative director Johan Pilestedt—directly inspired by the chaos of tabletop roleplaying (thanks, GamesRadar).