The co-creators of Caves of Qud, our favorite roguelike fever dream, worked as narrative consultants on Marathon—which mostly meant they 'got to sit there in the room and throw completely absurd ideas at the wall'

Marathon Introducing Traxus: Art of Traxus' liason sat in a chair with a lion next to them.

We named Caves of Qud our best roguelike of 2024 based on the merits of its singular atmosphere, arresting procedural systems, and the fact that you can play as a psionic, railgun-wielding bird-ape infected with a sentient fungus. You can imagine, then, how thrilled we were to learn that Qud's co-creators, Brian Bucklew and Jason Grinblat, revealed on Bluesky last week that they'd had "the real privilege" of working with Bungie as narrative preproduction consultants during the development of Marathon.

Given Marathon's similarly unabashed indulgence in its unique aesthetic and setting, knowing the Qud creators got a hand on the ball makes a certain amount of sense—particularly when looting a fresh container of Tick Milk. In an interview with PC Gamer, Bucklew said the relationship with Bungie emerged from being "friends with a few people inside," but insisted the Qud creators can't claim direct responsibility for much of what Marathon players see on-screen.