System & narrative design at Wolfwork Studios
Game Info
- Name: PDM-R (tentative name)
- Developer: Wolfwork Studio
- Genre: Dungeon crawler
- Release date: Cancelled
- Platform: PC
- Engine: Unity
Job Highlights
- Contract type: Permanent
- System design
- Narrative design
- UX design
- Analyze competitors & inspirations to refine game feel
- Interview players to understand their needs and desires
More Infos
Context
PDM-R was a roguelike dungeon crawler blending exploration, combat, and narrative-driven survival mechanics. Players recruit allies, interact with survivors, and progress through procedurally-generated dungeons. It was inspired by the Shiren the Wanderer series (Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon), with game mechanics from Wii party games like Poképark.
Early prototypes lacked a coherent gameloop linking all the game intentions together. Dungeons and mini-games where disconnected with one another and from the narrative.
My work
I consolidated the core gameloop, ensuring all mechanics formed a coherent and meaningful whole, and designed systems and narrative integration, linking gameplay with story progression. I analyzed competitors & inspirations to identify player expectations and improve game feel, and conducted player interviews and UX tests to validate mechanics and pacing.
This helped providing the team with a validated gameplay structure for narrative integration, and defining which mechanics & story bits worked and which needed redesign before production. It also enabled better alignment between gameplay and story, supporting future development decisions.