Roombattle devblog #1

The little mermaid 🧜‍♀️, Roombattle’s gameplay, and a tiny spoiler

First things first: introductions

If you’re reading this, it’s because you’ve shown interest in Roombattle at some point. And we know that if you own a vacuum at home, there’s a high chance you’ve even given it a name. That’s what truly unites us all.

Mine’s called “Sebas,” short for Sebastian. I’m not entirely sure why it’s called that, but it’s been with us since 2012. My mom picked the name, and I like to think it’s inspired by The Little Mermaid, though honestly, I doubt it.

But before we dive under the sea, I want to tell you a little about how we got here—to this rainy November day, after a year and a half of making a vacuum-battle game with balloons...

Dust Games

Like many indie studios, it all began in university, where we built the first prototype of what is now Roombattle. We’ve got that prototype locked in a drawer somewhere, but maybe someday we’ll show what our “origins” looked like.

And yes, I know Dust Games isn’t exactly an original name, given the theme of our game. We did what we could, and now we’re fully in love with Dusty, our mascot. (IT’S NOT A POPCORN, OKAY?)

And now, the real devblog

Today, we’re going to review all the content we’ve developed so far, which is honestly quite a bit.

We’ve been focusing on three main fronts: Core gameplay, themes, and minigames. Today, we’re all about the Core—the very heart of the fun.

For core gameplay, we have two unique frameworks: first, the vacuum’s gameplay itself, and then, the rewards players earn through power-ups and mystery skills, which we’ll talk about down the road another day.

Gameplay

So, what can you do if you’re a humble vacuum? Well, for some reason, we’ve slapped balloons on the back and sharp objects on the front. Credit for this idea actually goes to some Vine (RIP) account whose name I can’t remember.

For gameplay, it’s awesome because you always have to stay aware of a weak spot (the balloons) while attacking from the opposite side.

At this point, you might be thinking of Mario Kart and its balloon mode—it’s a natural thought process; we went through it, too. But we promise it’s nothing like that, other than the balloons.

That’s mostly because of the movement, which has been iterated on so many times that it’s practically seasoned and pan-fried. Let’s talk about the moves you get:

• Dash: The dash is a vital part of player mobility, letting you zip around with a short cooldown. But during playtesting, we realized it was missing something for our more advanced players—or, as we like to call them, “Aspiring Masters of Roombattle”.

• Charged Dash: So, we solved this with the charged dash. It works just like the regular dash, but if you hold down the input, you go farther, faster, and you can even stun your opponents.

Roombattle Roomtour

• SAGA - Catalan video games fair

  • 29th Nov - 1st Dec

  • La farga, Hospitalet del Llobregat - Barcelona

• VAG EXPERIENCE

  • 5th Dec- 8th Dec

  • Amposta - Tarragona

• BIG CONFERENCE

  • 6th Dec- 7th Dec

  • Euskalduna Palace - Bilbao

Roombadvices

Lastly, we’ll finish with Roombadvices, where team members recommend games, shows, movies, books, or try to sell you things… whatever they feel like, really.

Roombauthor of the Newsletter

I spent all weekend playing Overcooked 2 with my partner. Who would’ve thought we’d both love party games?

I’m watching The Boys and Gen V, currently on Season 4. It’s fun, action-packed, all good stuff.

I’m reading “El informe penkse” by Jaime Rubio Hancock. Started back in August, and it’s a short read. I’ll keep you informed. 

Dani JR

Lately I've been playing Metaphor: ReFantazio. I really liked the gameplay of Persona 5 but I found it's story a little lacking, so I expected to find this new game simply ok.

What I didn't expect is to experience such an interesting and deeply political story that's made even more meaningful by the events occurring right now in the world.

I've also been watching some shows. The Penguin just had it's bombastic ending, becoming one of the best series ever made to the surprise of everyone.

It's also fair to say that I'm addicted to DanDaDan, every week I look forward to Thursday so I can get my dose. I already know the story because I have read the manga, but that only makes me appreciate even more the care with wich they are animating it.

Lastly, I just finished book 3 of the Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin, from which I enjoyed how different it feels to other fantasy novels and how much it made me think.

Spoiler

What do you think, are we working on?