Thank you for reading the first devlog to Housekeeping Rumble! I am Peng Chung, the solo developer of this project. The game has just released its version 0.4.0. Its prototype build is attached to this dev blog, so have a look if you have the time!

While the game is still in development, I am excited to share an overview of how the game concept came to be and its technical development, as well as the plans for future. 

Piecing Ideas Together

The game started off as a school assignment to create a beat-em-up game, The objective is to create an iterative build each week, have it playtested, receive feedback and improve on the next one.  The selected theme was Undead - Weirdly, this reminds me of Hades, and the worldbuilding around Tartarus. The idea that the player is stuck in a constant loop of tireless battles until they emerge victorious intrigues me. However, the trope was overdone, and something unconventional (and goofy) was needed to give it a creative spin.

Since this is a game design focused assignment, I turn to itch.io to browse through game assets that I can use to make the game happen efficiently, as well as getting some inspirations. Soon enough, I've come across some  amazing game assets created by chierit, which features various Elemental Warriors with elaborate attack animations, and a free Cthulhu asset pack too. 

The gears were turning in my head, and with the help of a Random Idea Generator - I came to the idea of  "a warrior who controls the wind helps dust off dirty trash and filthy enemies" .  Wouldn't you agree tedious house chores can be as painful losing against punishing roguelikes? Thus, this painted the idea for Housekeeping Rumble and development was begun swiftly.

Building a Foundation

Due to skill and time limitations,  I could only afford to make a 2D side-scroller beat-em-up game, which is significantly unconventional in the beat-em-up scene. Hence, I turn to older games of that fulfill the niche to gather some inspirations and references - mainly Kirby Super Star Ultra,  Guacamelee!, and Guardian Heroes. 

(Image Credit: luigifan64d @ Youtube)

Kirby Super Star Ultra, featuring simple and straightforward movesets that closely resembles a fighting game.

(Image Credit: Instant-Gaming.com)

Guacamelee!, an action platformer about wrestling opponents with a wide assortment of movemsets.

(Image Credit: Teacher by Day - Gamer by Night)

Guardian Heroes, a retro 2D beat-em-up game where the players can switch between front and back planes.

Using these references, I analyzed and compiled a list of core features of what makes a beat-em-up game:

• Flashy and Varied Attacks:
  Having a mix of visually stimulating and impactful attack combos provide variations of feedback satisfaction, especially from a gameplay and visual perspective. It also allows skill expression for the player.
• Combo and Damage System:
  Common in beat-em-up games, displaying the number of attack chains and its damage dealt to the enemy is a simple yet satisfying visual feedback to the player, as the primary focus of the game is focused on dealing as most damage as the player can.
• Health and Knockback System:
  Beat-em-up games often put players in fights against opponents to give a sense of challenge and danger. Health and Knockback Systems serves as an indication that the player suffers the same risk  as the enemies they attack.
• Defensive Options:
  To play along with allowing player's skill expressions,  this game gives the player the option to dash through or block enemy attacks that serve as versatile defensive options.

Learning Through Feedback

And with that, technical development of the game begins. Throughout each week, I find friends and classmates to playtest and ask for feedback on.  It proved to be useful as it helps shine light on design and technical features I overlooked. 

One of the most significant changes is the Attack System. Initially, the player can only attack through spamming the Attack button, which results in a series of three attack animations play in succession.

(Before: Attack animations are slow and clunky - Players are stuck in the animation until it's finished.)

However, playtesters expressed that the attacks were felt delayed and unresponsive. This is due to the Attack button function as a trigger to execute uninterruptable attack animations. In other words, players are stuck in that animation until it is finished, and it can very annoying when they can anticipate an enemy's attack, but they couldn't move as they're still "attacking".

Hence, the Attack System received an overhaul. Functioning similarly to a standard fighting game, Attacks are separated into Light Attacks and Heavy Attacks - The former having very brief and fast animations that can be cancelled out of, whereas the latter has a longer animation but more powerful and satisfying to use. Different chains of Light Attacks can combo into different Heavy Attacks, providing more freedom for skill expression.

(After: Attacks come out much faster, and various Heavy Attacks are implemented  to provide options for skill expressions.)

Moving Forward

After 4 weeks of development, the assignment has concluded its overview and research on the beat-em-up genre. For the next few weeks, the game will see itself implemented with the roguelike / rogue-lite genre. I have briefly planned out the following feature to achieve such for future development, which includes:

• Coin and Shop System
• Hub World (Where you can meet Papa Cthulhu) 
• More Enemies and Levels
• Buffs and Passives
• Implementing cleaning features as part of the Core Game Loop

And that's all. Thank you for taking out the time to read such an extensive post. I hope this helps you gain some insights into the development of your own game projects too. All the best!

Best regards,
Peng Chung <3