DevLog 13 - From Screen to Silk Screen

A beer is waiting for me as I reflect on the past week spent working on our turn-based game, “Paul.” Calling it a “turn-based combat game” turned out to actually paint the wrong picture.

The Steam Deck Test Session

Last week, I took my Steam Deck over to some friends’ place for a “Paul” test session. The feedback was that “Paul” isn’t exactly what people expect when they hear “turn-based.” One of the main points to mention are:

Solo Focus: There aren’t different units to manage; there’s just Paul. Unique Game Flow: The movement is fluid. You can navigate the world seamlessly, and the player dictates the pace. You can pause after every single step to analyze the enemies’ next move, or you can “flow” through the world at speed. I haven’t found the perfect “catchy” genre term for it yet but my gray cells are still grinding away on that. I walked away with a solid list of notes and fixes I want to tackle before our first major public playtest. Down in the Cellar To prevent getting “square eyes” from staring at the monitor all day, I headed down to the basement with my sister to create some Paul T-shirts. The motif was designed a few weeks ago, and I think it looks great on fabric. It’ll likely serve as the basis for the game’s official cover art. Alright, that’s it from my side. I just realized I completely forgot to actually drink my beer while writing this…

Cheers, and take care!

Tobi