Cruora – Bloody Descent
Genre
RPG
Role
Game Design (Mechanical & Narrative Design)
Team
9 People
Platform
PC
Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Year of Development
2025/26
Click here to visit our game on itch.io
In 2040, a fanatical order controls the decimated human race and kidnaps children as their last resource for indoctrination. When resistance fighter Cruora's son is taken from her, cruel forced experiments in the laboratory unexpectedly give her monstrous powers. Driven by revenge, she breaks out to use her mutation as a weapon against the order and rescue her child.
My Responsibility:
As the Mechanical and Narrative Designer, I was responsible for crafting the core gameplay loops and integrating them seamlessly into the story. Working closely with the Vision Keeper, my primary role was to anchor high-level creative ideas in technical feasibility and resource management.
The Challenge:
Driven by the team's enthusiasm, the project suffered from severe feature creep. Conflicting requests and overly complex mechanic proposals inflated the scope, threatening both our strict deadline and the intended fast-paced flow of the game.
The Solution:
I spearheaded a necessary "kill your darlings" process to cut non-essential features and refocus the team on the core mechanics. To prevent further miscommunication, I translated all abstract design concepts into highly detailed pseudocode and logic tables. This created a common language for the team, enabling artists to produce targeted assets and allowing programmers to implement mechanics smoothly and without ambiguity.
As the Mechanical and Narrative Designer, I was responsible for crafting the core gameplay loops and integrating them seamlessly into the story. Working closely with the Vision Keeper, my primary role was to anchor high-level creative ideas in technical feasibility and resource management.
The Challenge:
Driven by the team's enthusiasm, the project suffered from severe feature creep. Conflicting requests and overly complex mechanic proposals inflated the scope, threatening both our strict deadline and the intended fast-paced flow of the game.
The Solution:
I spearheaded a necessary "kill your darlings" process to cut non-essential features and refocus the team on the core mechanics. To prevent further miscommunication, I translated all abstract design concepts into highly detailed pseudocode and logic tables. This created a common language for the team, enabling artists to produce targeted assets and allowing programmers to implement mechanics smoothly and without ambiguity.