Autopsy of a Lockdown Video Game

During the first lockdowns of 2020 & 2021, I was living in Canada and only able to work remotely in the UK. With a lot more time on my hands and not wanting to let my skills get rusty – I decided to take on the new skill of Game Development.

Inspired by the 2D Pixel art games of my childhood (Shining Force, Pokemon & Yu-Gi-Oh video games) and the unique capabilities of modern technology, I wanted to create a multi-platform JRPG/Rhythm game that would work on mobile and console devices.

Using a combination of online and offline resources, I taught myself multiple elements of game design leading to a demo release of Mersia Muses in late 2020.

I started to develop a full demo with levels, bosses and balanced stats when I was able to move back to the UK and my computer was unfortunately lost to a hard reset. The updated code and art was saved due to versioning but as I was only at the early stages and able to work again, I shelved the project for now…

This Tumblr is part of my unpacking and will hopefully consist of a retroactive BTS on the process, asset updates and download and hopefully the development of full games in the Mersia Muse world.

If you would like to play the demo I released or use any of the assets I have released so far follow the link to the Itch page. Feel free to use any of the sprites for game jams or private use!