Hello everyone,
Last week, I talked about new enemies that shake up a bit the game’s rhythm.
The second zone is almost entirely built around this very concept.
In the previous devblogs, I introduced the Imps, but this week, it’s time to talk about the Dwarves!
I won’t hide it: I’m a huge fan of dwarves.
I love them: stocky, grumpy, heavy, bearded warriors with horned helmets and a cheeky attitude.
While their lore deviates a little from the classic fantasy archetype (that you can discover on Saturday), their visual design leans heavily into it, because I love that.
So, you might be wondering: How exactly do they change the gameplay rhythm?
Gameplay
Unlike Imps, Dwarves speed up the pace of the game.
They move two tiles per turn!
However, there’s a twist: the first tile is “safe”, so King Shorty can pass through those tiles without taking damage!
I'm genuinely happy with this design choice.
It gives these enemies a unique identity while still playing into the core movement mechanics of the game.
In essence, it’s a small twist on the base enemy behavior, but it turns into something entirely its own: a goal I’ve set for every enemy in the Tower.
That said, designing levels around them was a real challenge.
There’s not a lot of navigable space in most rooms, so placing an enemy that “consumes” multiple tiles at once is tricky.
This forced me to really focus on space management, both during level design and gameplay.
As a player, you’ll need to look for movement options in areas that may seem “empty” or unused, or find ways to block the dwarf’s path (just like other enemies: moving crates work!).
Design
At first, I wanted dwarves to be high jumpers, champions of vertical leaps.
But once I started animating them, and building levels around that idea, I quickly ran into some problems.
They ended up feeling too slow compared to other enemies, so I tried speeding up the animation. The result?
Awful.
The jump animation became nearly invisible, it looked like they were just teleporting.
Hmm... teleportation, huh?
(the arrow is still work in progress, because I think it doesn't work quite well as I've imagined: I'm investigating other solutions)
And so, the idea clicked: the dwarves you’ll meet in the Tower are teleportation specialists!
Their high-jumping feats still exist in the lore, in a very strictly organized league, but gameplay-wise, they blink from tile to tile, and I think it works beautifully.
This change streamlined development significantly.
The animation is snappy and clear, and it gives the dwarves a strong visual identity that sets them apart from every other enemy.
I hope you like it!
That was all for today,
Have a great day and discover many great games during the current Steam Next Fest!
-Giuseppe