My magical girl dungeon crawler, Minerva Labyrinth, is available now on Steam and Itch!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3520970/Minerva_Labyrinth/
https://midnightspiregames.itch.io/minerva-labyrinth
#CRPG #DRPG #IndieDev #GameDev #SoloDev #IndieGame #IndieGames #RPG #VideoGames #Gaming #SoloDev #MinervaLabyrinth #MagicalGirl #DungeonCrawler #Godot #GodotEngine #MadeWithGodot #GodotSteam #Blobber
My magical girl dungeon crawler, Minerva Labyrinth, will be released on November 5th, 2025, 0800 EST, on Steam and Itch! If it looks like your thing, please give it a wishlist and check out the updated demo!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3520970/Minerva_Labyrinth/
https://midnightspiregames.itch.io/minerva-labyrinth
#CRPG #DRPG #IndieDev #GameDev #SoloDev #IndieGame #IndieGames #RPG #VideoGames #Gaming #SoloDev #MinervaLabyrinth #MagicalGirl #DungeonCrawler #Godot #GodotEngine #MadeWithGodot #GodotSteam
A late #ScreenshotSaturday. Before and after shots of the subway (tutorial/prologue). This is a very grey area, so I wanted to add a little more color. While I was at it, I also noticed that the shading was pretty dated. I brightened up the wall and floor tiles a bit, gave them a bit more dimension, and changed the tiles for the west set of tracks from red to blue. I also replaced the grey gates with the gold ones that are used everywhere else in the game.
This #ScreenshotSaturday, here's a small effect I'm trying out: a new portrait for your operational support when she contacts you remotely. Previously, these dialogues just used her regular in-person portrait (similar to the player portraits at the bottom). This is closer to how I imagine it.
It's a tiny detail that doesn't come up too often, but I think it's fun and communicates the event a bit better.
I've been working on a few new character classes and passive skills. Admittedly it's pretty late in development to be doing this, but there are a few gaps that I've been wanting to fill for a while. Hopefully this adds a little more build variety.
In the end, the goal is to reduce the enemy's HP to zero and I can only provide so many ways to do that, but turn-by-turn decisions make a difference in play, I think.
I'm doing a final writing pass to polish up the script. This is not a "story game" and was never meant to be, so a lot of it was written piecemeal on the fly over several years. Continuity is a little rough, and a few spots need a bit more fleshing out.
I ended up writing (and caring) more than I originally expected, so even though it's all ultimately context for the gameplay, I want to get it into the best shape that I can.
Continuing with making game information more accessible. When I first scrapped the tutorial in its previous form, I transferred all that information (with additional detail) to a menu kiosk at HQ. I've now made it an option in the field menu instead, so it can be accessed anywhere in the game. This basically serves as the game's manual. I've also stripped the old help screen down to basically a quick-reference card and made it accessible from here as well.
A small improvement I'm working on. My skill descriptions are bit untidy and probably not clear to a new player, so I added a dynamic line that explicitly states the range and area of effect of each skill. I am also color-coding damage/heal values by damage type, or adding ENR to energy damage if the color assist is turned on. This should make it easier to understand the skill's effects at a glance.
#ScreenshotSaturday #IndieDev #GameDev #MinervaLabyrinth #DungeonCrawler #CRPG #SoloDev
I spent many, many hours trying to get my tutorial right, but judging from feedback and from watching people play, it was a failure and a wasted effort - so I gave up, threw it all out, and replaced it with a handful of absolute bare-minimum, one-line prompts during the prologue level. All of the more detailed information is available in the help screen or from a kiosk at HQ.
#IndieDev #GameDev #ScreenshotSaturday #DungeonCrawler #MinervaLabyrinth
Pushed my 0.7.6 update just in time for #FeedbackQuest tomorrow, which among other things includes revamped skill sets for several classes. I have done a ton of content tuning and polish as well since my last public release, but most of that is for the full game.
Currently I'm planning for this to be the last demo release before launch. I don't usually post my patch notes here, but today I feel like it. 😛
Hi #WishlistWednesday, my #MagicalGirl #DungeonCrawler Minerva Labyrinth is coming out very soon on Steam and Itch, with the demo available right now. Would you consider throwing it a wishlist?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3520970/Minerva_Labyrinth/
#IndieDev #GameDev #SoloDev #DRPG #CRPG #Blobber #MadeWithGodot #IndieGame #IndieGames #Gaming #RPG #VideoGames #Godot #GodotEngine #MinervaLabyrinth #Steam #GamingOnLinux #GodotSteam #itch
#MinervaLabyrinth cleared with no healer 💖 This proves that it's doable, with deliberate play and plenty of items. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's winnable with literally any party build, but this is a really important data point to have.
Here is a partial look at a mid-game dungeon floor layout, courtesy of my current playtesting run. In this one, I experimented with interconnecting it with the floor above, so that traveling between the two at different points is required to progress.
#ScreenshotSaturday #IndieDev #GameDev #DungeonCrawler #CRPG #MinervaLabyrinth
Third dungeon complete on my healerless run. One more to go. 👀
This run is actually serving another purpose as well. I wasn't really happy with all of the character classes, mainly two in particular who are on this team, so I'm also trying out some revisions to their skill sets.
#IndieDev #GameDev #SoloDev #DungeonCrawler #MinervaLabyrinth
Making some revisions to a mid-game level (floor 11, as I count them). I want to improve one section in particular that I'm not satisfied with, and make better use of space overall.
#IndieDev #GameDev #SoloDev #MinervaLabyrinth #DungeonCrawler
One of my favorite things about playtesting is when I step into a trap that I'd forgotten I put there.
#IndieDev #GameDev #SoloDev #DungeonCrawler #MinervaLabyrinth
Just cleared the second dungeon on my healerless playtesting run. Two more to go 💦
So far, it's definitely less forgiving without a healer, but it's more manageable than I was expecting. We'll see how the rest of the game goes, though.
I cleared the first full dungeon with a playtesting party with no healer. The boss was rough and not a sure win, but I made it. I did a few trials on the boss and won most of the time, but barely. Now to see if I can handle the real game with this party 🤔
One of the UX improvements I am making to character creation is to run a few basic checks and advise the player if anything is particularly lacking. This is partly for new players who won't fully understand the character dynamics, but it's partly a reminder for myself, too. It's easy to neglect covering all equipment proficiencies.
Of course, you can always ignore the warnings and go ahead dauntlessly.
#MinervaLabyrinth made it through the Steam review process. I learned that if you flag your game as having mature content of some type, but it's not immediately visible, Valve will ask for a level skip to be able to check it. Had I known that in the first place, I would have provided it. Or maybe I could have just put a severed head on the title screen and they'd say "yep, violence, check!"
Learnings for next time.
