I've been playing and designing games my entire life, but about ten years ago I decided to do something about it. I wanted to make a video game a reality and get rich while I'm at it. I thought I could do most of it on my own, like Moppin the developer of Downwell. But all my ideas were a lot more ambitious, so I had to get people on board.



Getting people on board wasn't easy. I was mostly in isolation apart from my roleplaying friends who helped me formalize my ideas but had no long-term ambition with the project. So I went online and tried to hire programmers and artists. It took years to find the right crew after so many rounds of trial and error on that front.



We started our first video game but it was going slowly. It was 3D, way too ambitious. In the meantime we decided to publish small card games just to get something out the door and get proper feedback on our ideas. That worked out well, but the video game itself had to be canceled. After about three years I dropped it completely and started over from scratch. 2D this time.



As a roleplayer I always liked long-term progression and the grind. I liked how in Albion Online your gear dictates your class. I liked the atmosphere and biomes of Darkest Dungeon. I loved Slay the Spire, and I loved how Monster Train added multiple lanes as a twist on it. I wanted all of these ideas in principle to be in my game.



So in Monastery your gear is your class. You pick a weapon, an offhand, and an armor before each run. Each piece brings its own cards. Sword and Shield plays nothing like Pistol and Dagger. Using just those 3 slots there are 27 totally different combinations. Enemies come from both sides in waves, so you're always splitting your attention between two fronts. But each biome has unique enemies with different strategies to kill you, so you need to pick the right gear for the right biome to gain an edge. At full release you'll be able to collect over 80 equipment items, a bunch of rings and trinkets, and 12 powerful trophies from the 12 bosses. So there is the grind for you.



The game is in Early Access since 2023 and we're targeting full release by the end of the year. You can download the demo to get the feel of it. Happy to talk about any of the systems if you want to dig in.



[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1731410/Monastery/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1731410/Monastery/)

After 10 years of iterations, a failed 3D version, and three tabletop games later. My roguelite deckbuilder is nearing the finish line.