Stumble into Stompin’ Ground! Behind the scenes of Season 5’s rowdy new rhino Round
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout Season 5 features an adventurous new theme, inviting players to a super-colourful stumble in the jungle! This major update drenches the Blunderdome with glistening pools, tropical Pegwins and even a mysterious Lost Temple to explore, spread across six new Rounds packed with fresh mechanics and our signature ridiculous obstacles. One of these is ‘Stompin’ Ground’, pitting brave beans against a trio of rambunctious mechanical Rhinos in a Fall Guys first! Let’s go behind the scenes with Junior Designer, Sam Pickard, on a journey to the heart of Season 5...
Sam Pickard, Level Designer
Introducing...Stompin’ Ground!
Fall Guys Season 5’s ‘Stompin’ Ground’ has intrepid beans entering Rhino territory and it’s safe to say, they are not happy about it! Facing off against three furious mechanical horn-wielding contraptions, players will need to dash and dodge their way to safety and avoid a trip to the slime.
It’s been an absolute blast building Stompin’ Ground and the whole team have loved seeing your beans take on the challenge. But what if I told you...they never used to be rhinos at all?!
It’s been an absolute blast building Stompin’ Ground and the whole team have loved seeing your beans take on the challenge. But what if I told you...they never used to be rhinos at all?!
A curious evolution in the Blunderdome...
Before we finalised bringing Rhinos to Fall Guys, our team had long been excited by the possibilities of AI adversaries—crafting an obstacle that could actively pursue contestants and provide more unpredictable moments of gameplay. While Round variations and the chaotic presence of Thicc Bonkus and Big Yeetus brought freshness to Rounds, we really wanted to take our design scope to the next level.
Our first experiments actually came in the form of a giant chicken, roaming Rounds to protect eggs from eager beans! We even evolved this concept internally with the goal of bringing the technology to Season 4 as a giant retro-futuristic robot. However, getting the AI behaviour just right takes time and a whole lot of tweaking, so with Season 5’s adventure theme on the horizon, the evolution from chaotic chicken to rampaging robot to rowdy rhino was finally agreed!
How to train your Rhino
As you might imagine, getting a mechanical Rhino to behave the way you want is far from simple. Our first iteration established the very basics; teaching them to target players, entering a ‘chasing’ mode and eventually, performing their signature charging attack.
I remember the whole Level Design crew were hyped to finally show off our rhino creation to the rest of the Fall Guys team and eagerly set about our first playtest. However, when it came to it...oh dear, they were way too docile and easy to avoid.
We needed to get the difficulty feeling just right, so we began to adjust the AI behaviour across a set of three different Rhinos, ranging from “Easy” to “Medium” to “Hard” and playtesting them in succession. In the end, the sweet spot proved to be between “Medium” and “Hard”, with subsequent adjustments delivering what we hope to be an optimal Rhino-dodging experience!
I remember the whole Level Design crew were hyped to finally show off our rhino creation to the rest of the Fall Guys team and eagerly set about our first playtest. However, when it came to it...oh dear, they were way too docile and easy to avoid.
We needed to get the difficulty feeling just right, so we began to adjust the AI behaviour across a set of three different Rhinos, ranging from “Easy” to “Medium” to “Hard” and playtesting them in succession. In the end, the sweet spot proved to be between “Medium” and “Hard”, with subsequent adjustments delivering what we hope to be an optimal Rhino-dodging experience!
Step into the arena
Of course, seeing how these Rhinos behave in practice had a huge impact on our Round design plans. Our original Stompin’ Ground concepts called for multiple layers and winding corridors, inspired by the classic adventure movie chase sequences that so inspired Season 5’s overall theme. However, when this was put to the test with multiple pesky beans, these wide-reaching arenas made it way too easy to avoid the Rhino’s perilous gaze.
The circular arena you see today is uncluttered and allows us to concentrate more on the Rhinos’ behaviour and how players manage to interact with all three at once. We added some elements to the edge of the arena, but only to serve as ‘saving graces’, such as the Bounce Drums. This means getting charged by the Rhino doesn’t mean a guaranteed trip to the slime, granting some beans another chance to cause a ruckus with the Rhinos!
When it comes to taking on our creations in Stompin’ Ground for yourself, my advice would be to keep it moving! The Rhinos have some tell-tale signs for when a devastating charge is incoming, so keep a keen eye out—maybe you could coax them into a crowd of unsuspecting beans? Delightful!
The circular arena you see today is uncluttered and allows us to concentrate more on the Rhinos’ behaviour and how players manage to interact with all three at once. We added some elements to the edge of the arena, but only to serve as ‘saving graces’, such as the Bounce Drums. This means getting charged by the Rhino doesn’t mean a guaranteed trip to the slime, granting some beans another chance to cause a ruckus with the Rhinos!
When it comes to taking on our creations in Stompin’ Ground for yourself, my advice would be to keep it moving! The Rhinos have some tell-tale signs for when a devastating charge is incoming, so keep a keen eye out—maybe you could coax them into a crowd of unsuspecting beans? Delightful!
Dive into Season 5 now!
Players can stumble into their Season 5 adventure right now on PlayStation and Steam. And it’s not just Rhinos on offer for bean fans! Inside you’ll find…
- Six new Rounds - Plot an expedition to the ever-changing Lost Temple in a fresh Final. plus five more Rounds of wild shenanigans!
- Limited Time Events - Untold treasure and rare items abound in our all-new Limited Time Events, rewarding our most dedicated players.
- Crown Capers Pack - Grab fresh explorer looks and a dazzlingly dripped mummy with our latest exclusive DLC costumes right now.
- More Squads fun - We’ll be experimenting with even more ways to tackle the Blunderdome as a Squad throughout Season 5, including limited-time Duos and Trios Shows.