Hey everyone👋 It’s been a little while since the last Steam update, so I wanted to share another part of what I’ve been building for Hexborn.
In the previous update, I talked about handmade rooms and branching reward choices. Since then, I’ve been focusing on how you actually navigate those spaces during a firefight, and how the dungeon itself can create pressure alongside the enemies inside it.
More Than One Kind of Threat
One of the new spaces is a bridge lined with swinging axes.
The room still contains a smaller enemy encounter, but the danger doesn’t come from enemy numbers alone. You also have to read the timing of the blades, jump onto a narrow side platform to avoid them, and then return to the bridge when the path is clear.
Reducing the number of enemies while adding environmental pressure gives the room a different rhythm from a conventional combat arena. Movement and timing become just as important as firepower.
Risking the Reward
Another room combines a lighter combat encounter with a repeating fire trap.
A reward chest sits beneath the flames, but reaching it means watching the pattern, waiting for the fire to stop, and moving in at the right moment, all while dealing with the enemies still around you.
For fellow Blood fans, the fire hazard is also a small nod to those pesky fire traps we all love to hate, haha. If you know, you know...
Making the Dungeon Part of the Danger
Combat and build progression remain at the heart of Hexborn, but I don’t want every room to just rely on increasing enemy numbers. Environmental hazards let me create tension in other ways, challenging you through movement, positioning, and timing.
This also helps break up the rhythm of a run. Larger fights can be followed by smaller encounters where the layout itself becomes the main threat. It gives individual rooms more identity, making the dungeon feel like a hostile place rather than just a collection of neutral combat boxes.
Thanks for continuing to follow the development of Hexborn. I’ll have more to share as development continues. Until then, keep your shotgun loaded and mind your step!
See you in the next update 🩸🤘
Sohrab