Somehow I avoided the Dark Souls franchise for an entire decade. After playing it for the first time recently, I was reminded of a conversation where I was asked if I had ever considered making a slasher, and felt ignited to fulfil that request.

Bladius is not your typical game from me. It’s violent, twitchy, and dissonant. But beneath this harsh exterior is the same loving sound design and screen reader support.

Planned features

• Build a deck. Open a starter pack every new game. Earn booster packs for victory streaks. Amass a collection of medieval weapons, shields, and armor. Enhance survival with boons, or take on banes for higher rewards.
• Real-time slasher combat. Draw your loadout and enter battle against increasingly difficult opponents. Control each arm independently to attack and block. Manage health and stamina by using potions and resting between dodges. But beware that death is permanent.
• Level up. Earn experience points for each slain foe. Level up after significant milestones. Customize your build by spending attribute points on health, stamina, attack, and defense.
• Spend gold. Earn gold for each victory. Access the shop between matches. Purchase potions to prolong your life. Browse a selection of rare cards to buy for your deck.

Coming soon

Bladius is being developed simultaneously for the Crunchless Challenge and Game Off 2021. Both end on November 30.

To get there I hope to work no more than 2 hours per weeknight and 8 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. As someone with an attention disorder this will be difficult to follow, but I’ll try my best! Mainly my goal is to start and finish something that isn’t S.E.A..

So far I’ve written a design document and built a fractal noise generator for the attack sounds inspired by CodeParade’s work. Currently I’m working on the user interface and deckbuilding aspects. The first playable build I plan to upload here will demonstrate this. The actual fighting is coming, I promise!

I’m excited to share more soon. Thanks for reading!