About the Game
Shadowbound Alchemist is a 2D puzzle-platformer made for Pirate Software's Game Jam 15. You play as a shadow alchemist called "Newt" who captures and mixes elements to overcome obstacles to find the recipe of becoming human again.
Shadowbound Alchemist was made in Godot in two weeks with a team of four. I was the lead game designer and audio, both of which received praise from the judges and players.
Game Design
The core gameplay loop of Shadowbound Alchemist consist of the player learning how different elements react to each other and using them to overcome different obstacles.
You can access the GDD here, which explains the design in more detail.
Level Design
Inspired by Nintendo's approach to Super Mario's level design, Shadowbound Alchemist's level teaches the player the rules of the game through gameplay. In each gameplay screen, the player is taught new concepts that enrich the gameplay, all without the need for text.
Screen 1 teaches how to use fire
Screen 2 teaches how water react to lava can make stone
Screen 3 teaches how to use water
Screen 4 teaches water combined with fire creates a cloud
Screen 5 teaches inhaling water and fire to create a cloud as a platform
Screen 6 teaches cloud with wind creates a moving platform
Audio
When it came to audio, I wanted to test my sound design skills, and I went out of my comfort zone by recording live foleys for most of the sound effects.
The sound effects that you hear (i.e. bottle inhale, jump, shooting fire/water/cloud, etc.) were made by layering samples as well as recording my voice and applying post-processing to get the desired outcome. Play the game for yourself and see if you can spot which effects were made with my voice!