Devlog #1 / Week 1 ~ Early Beginnings


Date: 29.04.2020 - 06.05.202

Intro ~ Research Question & Inspirations

I start this project project with the question "What makes games highly replayable" and in doing so I want o create a single-player game with high replay value that as it's core mechanic has an original/ non-traditional "combat" mechanic.

~  A few of the games that I think have an "original/ non-traditional "combat" mechanic" ~

Dicey Dungeons: roguelike, deck-building, chance + strategy with dice


Maze Machina: a turn-based swiping puzzler

Bound by Blades: Roguelite action RPG Interesting combat mechanic: you can only walk between 4 corners in order to avoid attacks

Signs of the sojourner: narrative deck-building

Aegis Defenders: an metroidvania action-platformer Tower Defense

Honorable mentions:
  • The Legend of Bum-Bo: puzzle turn based deck building roguelike
  • Bad North: A real-time tactics roguelite, it’s simple but beautifully done! 
  • Creature In The Well: a top-down, pinball-inspired, hack-and-slash dungeon crawler.
  • Underhero: 2D side-scroller RPG adventure game with timing-based combat.

After looking at these game examples the answer to creating a new kind of combat lied within the mash-up of existing combat systems.
So I've decided to go with a mash-up between Roguelike, Strategy, Turn-based/ or time-based, deck/ character/ cast building as a starting point.

Game Concept

A few years ago I wrote a silly little zine called ‘Far Away From Ordinary’ it was about you as the reader looking for a seat on a train; but instead of a seat you find yourself in uncomfortable situations. In every train carriage you have a reason to move onto the next carriage but it doesn’t get any better and you definitely don’t find a seat.  -> could I make a game inspired by this? 

So combining my research and my own art as inspiration I'm deciding to make a game set on a train!  And this is my first ever brainstorm for this game:

I still have no idea what this game will look like but I'm excited to see where it goes!

Get Train Snacks ~ Prototype

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