Inspired by the 1984 fighting game Great Swordsman, the game was made by indie developer Mark Essen over the course of four years, using GameMaker: Studio. It was commissioned for the New York University Game Center's first No Quarter annual multiplayer show and first exhibited in April 2010 as Raging Hadron. The game was delayed as Messhof planned a formal release and later renamed Nidhogg, after the mythological Norse serpent who appears in-game. Messhof worked as the game's only programmer and his time was divided between development and his other freelance and personal projects, graduate school, and a job teaching at University of Southern California. The game languished until Kristina "Kristy" Norindr assisted Essen in founding Messhof LLC, a legally incorporated indie studio, joining as a co-founder and working in a business development role. She led the search for the game's musician. Their list of desired styles always included Daedelus, who they were able to contact through a mutual friend who attended high school with the musician. Daedelus designed some of the procedural elements that trigger the music sequences. Messhof described their process as wanting to "enhance the action" while letting players control the game's tension. He felt lucky to have Daedelus as his composer. Messhof also asked a former student to help him complete the game's netcode, which he deemed to be "totally essential" for the game's future as an eSport. He read about "programming and fighting game structure" over the course of development, which he credited as important towards the game's progress. It was his first attempt at networked multiplayer.
The core concept did not change over the course of development, though the other content did. Messhof limited the game's exposure during this time as he wanted the game to be respected in the fighting game genre and wanted to make sure it was ready first. Messhof himself, however, did not have much experience in this genre. He said that he "spent a lot of time" on the gameplay's feel and designed it to play slowly, where players wait for their opponent to move first, similar to Bushido Blade. He also spent time adding divekicks and cartwheels while improving the melee attacks and spectator experience. Some moves, such as a Yoshi-style "ground pound" and the Karate Kid crane kick, were attempted and removed. In testing, he would observe players and their strategies before attempting to write an artificial intelligence to use similar strategies. Messhof considers the single-player to be training for the online multiplayer, and the online multiplayer training for live matches. He described his process as making "the most fun game" to play with his friends.
Reception
Nidhogg received "generally favorable" reviews, according to video game review score aggregator Metacritic. It won Indiecade 2013's Game Design award and the 2011 Independent Games Festival's Nuovo Award, where it was also nominated for Excellence in Design and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. It was IGN's January 2014 Game of the Month, and Rock, Paper, Shotgun awarded the game their first physical trophy. Reviewers praised the feel of the gameplay and its balance, and thought the single-player mode to be unsatisfying. Some critics found technical issues with the online multiplayer code, while others only had issues finding other players.
Brandon Boyer marked the game as part of a "multiplayer renaissance" alongside TowerFall and Samurai Gunn. Polygon's Russ Frushtick described the game as a tug-of-war closer to the National Football League than to Street Fighter. He commended the game's originality. Kyle Hilliard of Game Informer did not think the pixelated graphics were sufficiently "distinct" from similar games. He praised the soundtrack but wanted more tracks.
Eurogamer's Quintin Smith praised the game's balance, writing that "every single fight is hold-your-breath tense", that even the shortest fights "take on an air of majesty", and that kills feel fair. He described the game as multiplayer "theatre" for the impact the game has on those watching and playing it. Destructoid summarised the game as "Nidhogg stands as one of the true kings of competitive gameplay, and that doesn't need to be patched one bit", while GamesMaster said "A peculiar, thrilling and essential addition to your PC games collection. Best played with friends/enemies." Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Alec Meer described the game as a combination of "precision and reckless abandon". IGN's Keza MacDonald called it the "most exhilarating competitive game she had played in years". Edge put the game alongside Street Fighter II, Super Smash Bros., and GoldenEye 007 as games "written into history indelibly for their competitive multiplayer". The game later inspired indie games such as TowerFall and Samurai Gunn. Sean Hollister of The Verge described Nidhogg as "perfect".
Regarding the overall proposition, GamesTM said "It’s a small package but there’s a wealth of value to be found in the creative gameplay that’ll spur you through many hours of gaming", while PC Gamer said "A brilliant marriage of mechanics, level design and music that will be played and talked about for years to come", a sentiment echoed by VideoGamer, who said "Nidhogg is a game to be enjoyed with friends while in the same room together, and it may be the best title you play that way this year."
