Rogue's Gambit
Raven, a rogue, has one night to rescue the sorcerer Merle and stop a cult from summoning Utako, a Lord of Hell. Three paths in, one altar at the end.
What I did
- Designed an isometric dungeon with three paths (barbarians, undead, demons) that branch from one entrance and converge on a single altar room.
- Built the main objective as a multi-step environmental puzzle driven by one Blueprint state machine, so every clue unlocks the next and nothing fires out of order.
- Built a three-wave summoning encounter that unlocks only after Merle is freed: five enemies per wave from three spawn points, ending early if the statue falls.
- Tied each path to an optional objective, and tied the optionals back into the finale: leave townsfolk behind and the final waves hit 10% harder.
- Implemented click-to-move, a shared interaction interface, quest and objective HUD, an intro cinematic, and an end-of-level results screen.
Systems
The Merle chain
Talk to Merle, find the unbinding note in the Demonic Study, wake the fallen paladin's sarcophagus, and carry his light back to free Merle. One enum drives every step, so the order cannot break.
The summoning statue
Locked until Merle is free. The first hit starts the encounter: a wave every ten seconds, three waves total, five enemies each from three spawn points. Destroying the statue ends it and the level.
Linen, bone piles, townsfolk
Path 1: collect 5 linen from barbarians for bandages. Path 2: destroy 3 bone piles to stop the necromancers. Path 3: rescue 6 townsfolk from the sacrifice once their guards are down.
Choices carry forward
Leave townsfolk behind and every enemy in the statue waves deals 10% more damage. The results screen reports all four objectives when the level ends.
The level
Level design concepts
Annotated screenshots of the level design concepts built into Rogue's Gambit. Click any image to enlarge it.
Golden Path
The golden path demonstrates the main quest steps in order and a route the player could take. However, it is nonlinear, so they could take any of the 3 paths to complete the level.
Landmark (Large)
This image shows a large landmark that can be seen from very far away: the statue of Utako.
Landmark (Small)
This image depicts a small landmark, the barbarian camp. It is a combat zone with the first optional objective, getting the linen cloth drops.
Landmark (Small)
This image depicts the ritual sacrifice chamber pentagram, a small landmark with the third optional objective to free the captured townsfolk.
Breadcrumbs
This image depicts the grimoire breadcrumbs leading the player to the altar room to start the main objective puzzle.
Gates
This image depicts the gates (doors) the player has to open to get to the undead and demon paths.
Leading Lines
This image shows the blood trail leading line that leads to the destructible bone pile in the bone pits, the second optional objective in the level.
Leading Lines
This image shows the wall light leading line that leads to the undead-infested caverns.
Color Language
This image shows the color theory of the level: orange means interact, yellow means collectible, and red means danger or enemies. I wanted to reinforce the level with these colors to give the player teachable moments.
Design process
Story beats
Sketched by hand first, then rebuilt as a timed beat chart across the beginning, middle and end of a seven-minute run.
Pacing and layout
