SPIRAL MAGE is a shmup (shoot em up) about being a wizard who blasts gigantic demon wyrm serpent monsters from hell. You were probably the one who summoned them but don't worry about it. They certainly don't.
The goal was to make every enemy feel like a boss battle. The game is in a very zoomed out top-down perspective, using the size of the character and monsters to make the player feel dwarfed and vulnerable compared to their enemy. The serpents don’t die like normal video game monsters, instead they split into pieces, each segment growing its own mandibles just to eat you. There is no music in the combat portions of the game, instead being replaced by ominous creaking atmospheric sounds, and sharp squelching cracks when parts of the wyrms are destroyed, both serving to reinforce the oppressive atmosphere. The game intends to make you feel overwhelmed and hunted.

I was the sole developer for this project. Aside from sound effects and music which I sourced from public domain databases, I produced everything for this project including paper prototypes and design, programming, 2D art, and procedural animation for the wyrms. The game was heavily inspired by Terraria’s Eater of Worlds boss, except with a focus on satisfying gameplay and maximising the grandeur of fighting terrifyingly massive cosmic horrors.

CW: Lots of heavy squelching and crunching sounds sounds. About as bloody as is shown here

Main Menu Music:
https://opengameart.org/content/boss-battle-1-8-bit-re-upload, Accessed 3/4/22
Splatter Sound Effect:
https://opengameart.org/content/2-wooden-squish-splatter-sequences, Accessed 3/4/22
Ambient Noises:
https://opengameart.org/content/forgoten-tomb-ambience, Accessed 3/4/22
Arcane Bolt Sound Effect:
https://opengameart.org/content/4-projectile-launches, Accessed 3/4/22

TOOLS USED
SFXR - Sound effects
Unity 3D - Game engine
Visual Studios - Programming workspace
Fire Alpaca - Sprite art