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when a player dies in the cruel mother, they're gone for good 😱
this is something i was indecisive about at first, and i considered there being an optional difficulty with player respawning. but i think one of the main opportunities small indie games have is to make big, risky decisions that make it stand out
permadeath completely changes how a game is played. it increases the stakes, but also encourages the player to be very cautious, which can be boring. because of this, good permadeath games (in my opinion) will have some sort of active stressor on the player in order to stop them from turtling.
i still want players to have a defensive playstyle, building a formidable base that can defend against whatever lurks outside, but i also want to design monsters that are able to break past these defenses
so on an individual level, i'm confident that permadeath is good for making a more interesting and engaging video game. however, the main reason i wasn't so sure about making it mandatory is because the cruel mother is a game designed around multiplayer...
there are a lot of beloved permadeath games. the whole roguelike genre, don't starve, project zomboid, fire emblem, and a lot of game with optional permadeath modes. but very few or no games have been designed around true permadeath multiplayer. there is almost always a way to revive "dead" players.
and this is for good reason. it's not at all a smooth gameplay experience to have someone in a multiplayer game, with friends, just no longer be able to play. in fact, it probably should be considered bad game design.
but i also think it is just awesome. every once in a while my friends and i will start up a hardcore minecraft server, and even though they rarely last long it always makes for fun and dramatic gameplay
as i said earlier, indie games are able to be strange and make unconventional game design choices. but that's what sets them apart from studios with larger budgets that can't take any chances
i do have plans for a game mechanic that will address the multiplayer permadeath issue, but none of those plans involve reviving dead players. my game will have one gamemode, and that gamemode will have permanent player death.