A Cat in hat studio project that grew out of a game jam prototype. Built in Godot by a small team.
A turn-based tactical puzzle game with a dark fantasy atmosphere, about balancing body and mind.
Objective
Take the jam version all the way to a release on itch.io.
My contribution
- Came up with the idea
- Wrote the GDD
- Programmed the game
- Led a small team
- Built the game content: enemy parameters, combat encounter setup
- Balanced combat: enemy waves and encounters
- Wrote and implemented the narrative, and tied the story to the gameplay
Key decisions
We decided to focus on narrative and atmosphere, since those were what players highlighted most in their feedback on the jam version.
The core gameplay hook is being able to change the hero’s stats every turn.
This affects combat: health, attack range, movement speed, and so on. But it also influences which monsters appear on the field and how the story unfolds.
The main story is very short: 5 waves, which take a new player about 20 minutes. But each wave has unique narrative content selected by how you play (which stat you favor), and there are 3 endings matching the strategies: favoring “body,” favoring “mind,” or keeping a balance.
Outcome
Later, without my involvement, the game got achievements and an endless mode and was released on Steam
What I’d do differently
I didn’t pay enough attention to onboarding and teaching the mechanics. I’d add a slightly more detailed introduction and an interactive tutorial.
Overall, the game also turned out far too short. The endless mode helped, but the story mode still feels very thin.