A short gameplay clip from Locked In: The Ward, my solo-developed psychological horror game in Unreal Engine 5.

I've been experimenting with rain, ambient audio, and pacing to build tension during the forest section.

Hello everyone, I suck at map creation. I have been working on making a 3d multiplayer cop game in Unity for around 6 months, and I am finally getting to working on the actual map itself.

I specifically would like advice on the layout of the map, and the neighborhood I am working on (2nd image). Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

The game grew out of personal memories and an old note I’d been keeping on my phone for ages.

Kids summoning something supernatural in an attic, what could be a more straightforward concept for a Halloween game jam?

When we started, we had nothing but a general idea. The visuals, the narrative style, the details, the mechanics, everything came together as we went along.

If you ask me why the story is told through the lens of a therapy session, I’ll be honest: no fucking clue it just sort of happened.

The interactive elements came about in pretty much the same way. We didn’t plan them in advance. At some point, I realized that good old blur was the best way to convey the feeling of sinking into a memory. Searching for memories and interacting with objects became the bridge between the protagonist’s past and present.

A mechanic where you have to draw and erase a staircase yourself? Pfft. How could we not do that?

Of course, not every idea made it into the final game.

I originally worked on a parallax effect. I thought the combo of parallax, blur, and memory searching would feel amazing. In practice? Not so much (I got motion sick.) So I scrapped the parallax, even though I’d already spent hours tweaking it.

The writing went through a similar process.

In the early drafts, the protagonist had an inner monologue, there were lots of descriptions, and the scenes were almost twice as long. But I just couldn’t find a writing style that matched the tone of the visuals. I wanted something with that R. L. Stine kind of vibe, but for a long time, I couldn’t quite get there.

So I kept cutting things down, simplifying the prose, and trying different approaches.

Eventually, I removed all the descriptions and left only the characters’ dialogue. And honestly? It was the best decision for the pacing.

For the same reason, we also cut the hallway and the sisters’ room. Those extra transitions slowed everything down, and we were running out of time to draw all the backgrounds anyway. Some of the artwork never even made it past the draft stage.

Ten scenes became six, but at least every scene in the final game has a purpose and does exactly what we wanted it to do.

There is one scene we might still add later, though: an alternate ending that would also serve as a continuation of the story.

Overall, participating in the jam was a great stress test. It showed us two things: first, that we’re actually capable of making a pretty solid game in a short amount of time; and second, what it’s like to work together as a team.

Turns out, we work pretty well together — with a few caveats, of course.

We’ve since talked through the organizational stuff, figured out what we learned from the experience, and we’re ready to move forward with fresh energy.

If you’d like to check out the game, you can find it here:
The Thirteenth Step: https://lunamaxima.itch.io/the-thirteenth-step

We’d love to hear what you think!

This is my new game, appreciate any feedback https://discord.com/channels/1559720012179054681/1559720092789637244

I’ve released my indie game Powder and Liberty, and the demo is now available to play.

It’s a Revolutionary War-inspired sandbox RPG where you’re not locked into being “the hero.” The goal is to let you build your own life while the war continues around you.

You can work, make money, buy property, build a home, run a business, fight, trade, or get involved in the war — basically, carve out your own place in the world.

The game is still in development, but the first playable demo is out now.

If anyone wants to check it out, I’d really appreciate the feedback.

https://astonedzebra.itch.io/powder-and-liberty

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rMVVHq6K_N4 yo guys whats up i lost my job cause the company went bancrupt now im becoming a game developer i guess cause no one is hiring people nowadays in germany... nah im joking it feels like a dream developing this game! i wrote an own engine in rust for this game and im in love with it. its a rougelike first person round based zombie survival koop game. any feedback regarding this game would be amazing if u guys wanna trashtalk my game join my discord i would love to get positive/negative feedback <3 https://discord.gg/BWCy9besY4

This video doesn’t show much, like bar management, the big city, gun combat or even car customization, but I’d like to know if you think my game is going in the right direction.

I still need to do sound 😭 and still need to fix the led animations I don't want this robot to have a "face" since I want this to be a low voltage robot ✨ , in my game the way you program a robot depends on his memory CPU etc.

I made him along ago but animated only now

Feedback welcome 🤗

Well sun is rising and this took me all night, thank you all for your constant input it only makes me better 🦋

(The video is 1.8 speed up so you won't suffer too much)