It’s been about a month since I put SOULGRAVE up on Steam, and it’s been really cool to see people checking it out, wishlisting it, and sharing it around (more of that, please).

So, I figured it was time to properly introduce the game.
Though, please bear with me. I’ve never really written devlogs before and generally have no idea what I’m doing. Which I hear is very on-brand for indie development.

You’ll dive into procedurally generated dungeons scattered across five distinct shards, broken fragments of a world that was torn apart in an ancient calamity.

Each shard represents a fractured part of the human psyche: fear, joy, rage, memory, etc.
They aren’t just aesthetic themes. They change how the game plays:

• Unique visual identities and environmental effects

• Varied layouts, hazards, and gameplay feel

• Shard-specific mechanical twists, items, and unlocks

• Distinct bosses and encounter experiences

After each successful run, you’ll unlock new difficulty levels. Dungeons will evolve:

Expect upgraded enemies with new moves, harder new and unique boss mechanics, additional loot pools, and more surprises.

Some locations from different Shards

You’ll have access to:

• 3 Active Skills

• Swappable Tools (think active-use items)

• Passive Items you can stack

Everything can be upgraded, rerolled, or fused mid-run. Abilities synergize with specific items and tools, opening up the potential for wild builds. One run might turn you into a teleporting shadow reaper; the next, a floating arsenal of flame mines and summoned scythes. My goal is to make every run feel different, and sometimes downright unhinged. And balancing it all is a problem for future me.
I’ll go into more detail on the itemization and randomness in a future post. Just know there’s already a very cursed Google Sheet full of ideas and synergy combos. If you want to contribute to insanity, join the Discord.[discord.gg] I'll listen to your wild ideas.

A bit of general combat from Redveil Grave

Each shard ends in one of several handcrafted boss fights. There is no procedural randomness, just raw design.

Bosses in SOULGRAVE are closer to MMO raid encounters than typical roguelike brawls. That means:

• Telegraphed attacks with visual cues you’ll need to learn

• Mechanics that evolve over the fight - the boss will usually start with a concept you need to understand, and then build on top of it with additional layers of complexity

• Puzzle-like patterns, where paying attention and understanding what the boss is cooking is just as important as dodging it

• Moments of panic when you realize you’ve misread a mechanic and now the floor is lava

• And yes, sometimes the solution is to hit the boss harder. But only sometimes, when the boss is tired of dancing with you.

I’m not aiming for basic dodge rolls or bullet hell. I want you to pay attention. The goal is to create unique and memorable, fair fights once you understand the rules. Which, granted, might be written in glowing glyphs while the boss charges an arena-wiping deathorb.

Erebus - the Black Tribunals enrage

In the next devlog, I’ll go deeper into:

• Combat mechanics and build synergy

• Unlockables, meta progression, and long-term goals

• Playable character(s?) and their stories

• Lore breakdown. What the shards really are

• Boss design deep dive - the philosophy behind the encounters

• ??? let me know if you want to know something specific about the game

More soon,
bromanguy

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