The Original Design of Voidrunner

Initial idea

When I first started thinking about how to design Voidrunner, the first idea that came to my mind was speed.

Speed is a core mechanic throughout the game. Players need to build up enough speed to defeat enemies, overcome obstacles, and complete certain parts of a level.

Core gameplay

When the player reaches a high enough speed, they can defeat certain enemies by crashing into them. Some parts of a level also require the player to build up enough speed to jump across large gaps.

Current ideas

• Taking damage increases the player’s speed.
• Each level may contain areas that require the player to reach a certain speed to progress.

Inspiration

• Legbreaker: triggering a special ability by taking damage
• Celeste: momentum-based movement
• Portal: using external forces and momentum to travel through levels
• Leap Year: discovering hidden movement abilities through trial and error.

Question

• How can I design each level around the speed mechanic?

Next Step

Create a basic prototype.