Hello there!

This is the one and only devlog that I will be posting for my game "Don't Break", releasing on Steam on July 11th. (https://store.steampowered.com/app/3809760/Dont_Break/) It is a reflection of the development journey thus far. 

INTRODUCTION

As a brand new solo-dev trying to make their way into the game industry, I have been working endlessly for 2 years to make a game and sell it; obviously, easier said than done. Over those past few years I was met with failure after failure. (probably at least 7 or 8 unique ideas). Each time, I always first brainstormed an interesting game concept that might have potential to stand out, then immediately got to prototyping it for a few months. Although I knew what my strengths and weaknesses were, there was a pitfall: scope management is simple to understand but difficult to put in practice. For every prototype, there were at least one of three issues:

1. Pursue the project even though it was out of scope

2. Game idea was unique but was too experimental to have some familiarity

3. I could not pinpoint a distinct identity/direction for the game

I know I'm talking about these failures as pure negatives, but there were valuable lessons for each one as I gradually improved my sense of scope management and game development skills (level design, programming, art). 

THE VISION

And so, March 2025 arrived. Up until now, I rarely took off-days partly due to my rule of "Don't have a 0% day" and worked almost everyday from morning to midnight partly due to a mix of determination and desperation. As you can guess, I was VERY burned out, but I still wasn't ready to give up.

With the experience I had accumulated so far, I asked myself: As a solo-dev what is a game that I can manage completely alone in a relatively shorter amount of time, has a distinct identity, doesn't require expansive content, can have a minimalist art style, while increasing replay value? My answer was: something with a steep difficulty curve. A rage-inducing game similar to "Jump King" or "Pogostuck: Rage With Your Friends" or "Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy". After gaining second-wind and a clear vision in my mind, I got to work. 
 

THE FULL PICTURE

"Don't Break" was originally not even a platformer nor was it physics driven. It was called "Version X", an FPS aim-trainer that makes you rage quit. You play as an aimbot that is tasked with shooting targets to earn points but the twist is that aiming and shooting mechanics are intentionally clunky with no aim reticle, an arcing projectile shot, mouse smoothing, and slow heavy movement. It was a difficult game but something about it didn't fully click with me. 

The next move was to try turning this game into a sidescroller instead, kind of like the "Worms" games. My idea was to have the player be a spherical robot that is able to rotate in full 360 degrees so they can shoot targets or enemies in any direction while rolling around. Maybe even have a mechanic where the robot can bounce in a direction if they shoot in the direction of the surface. That was a bit better but trying to have action elements made me feel anxious because I was now combining platforming and shooting. 

The third major change was to just remove the shooting element all together. The mechanic of bouncing by aiming towards a surface was more fun than shooting. At this point, the core mechanic was starting to take form but the identity was not there yet. I went and played through various rage platformers to research and figure out how to make my game different from others in the same genre. What i realized was that none of those that I played had any FALL DAMAGE; this would add a new layer to the difficulty of the game without making it overly complex. 

Everything about the game finally fell into place with that one realization. What kind of character would the player be if they can take fall damage and die easily? A fragile potion bottle made of glass that rolls and bounces around. And what is the objective? Escape a dungeon created by a crazy goblin wizard named Snarkle. It's an experience that makes the player feel like glass: they need to play very cautiously while fighting the slippery and awkward physics.

Time skip to now, 5 months after the start of this project. With help from friends and family, I was able to test and balance the levels and difficulty curve of the game. It is a physics-driven rage platformer game where you need to go through a gauntlet of 20 brutal levels; small mistakes can send you all the way back to the start. And it has features like player customization and hardcore mode which I never imagined for the game. After such a long time, I finally reached my goal of creating my first game. Even if the game doesn't do as well as I want, it's important that I was able to fully develop and ship a game. It was quite the journey and I believe it's only the beginning of a longer journey

Thank you for reading this essay devlog!

"Don't Break" Steam Store: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3809760/Dont_Break/