Shift is a hack-and-slash RPG that allows a player to explore dungeons in search of adventure while uncovering a story of loss and redemption. It is a “dream-project” level idea that I hope to complete someday.
Shift: Prelude is an early iteration and prototype of some of the ideas for Shift. I am developing the Prelude for the “Crunchless Challenge” on itch.io, and—if all goes well—it will be formally published and available for download in December!
Gameplay
In Shift, you will step into the role of a “Shifter” — a mercenary that travels between parallel worlds to complete tasks for a powerful wizard. Although it’s unlikely your employer will ever share their motives for these expeditions, yours are quite clear—collect the riches of other worlds, and bring them back to your own.
Players will explore dungeons and kill monsters in order to collect treasure and complete quests. It is my hope to provide a pure “levelling and looting” experience that will be familiar to fans of the genre, but with unique elements that make the world of Shift feel fresh.
Shift features retro ASCII graphics and procedurally generated content. It abandons permadeath from the rogue-likes that inspired it in favor of an emphasis on a narrative that incorporates and explains the presence of seemingly infinite random dungeons. The story of Shift unfolds over a large number of “runs”, although each dungeon can only be visited a single time. Failure—while not fatal to the player’s character—will still be costly by drastically changing the fate of the Shifter and their employer.
Scenic river view 
Monsters lurking in the forest 
The troll’s lair
Development Logs
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Tuning Player Movement in High Roller
This development log shares how I tuned the movement controls in High Roller. It took a day or two, and I feel good about how the ball handles currently.
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Initial High Roller Prototype and Project Setup
This development log focuses on the decision to build a marble racing game in January, and the various tools I tested for building the terrain for each level.
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Slash Racer Project Review
I released Slash Racer today, so it’s time to reflect on how the project went. This post highlights the project’s successes, and some areas of improvement.
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Slash Racer Gameplay: Feeling Good is King
In this development log I explore the techniques used to iterate on gameplay changes during the development of Slash Racer, my vertical driving game.
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Slash Racer: December’s Game Project
I’m officially announcing the “One Game a Month” project for December: Slash Racer. Avoid obstacles while navigating a vertical track in this retro arcade game.
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Emergent Behavior, or “Did I build that?”
I love being surprised when playing a video game. I especially love being surprised when playing a video game that I made.