Game design
These posts are about the rules of Mytheria: the day and night loop, how you get stronger, how bosses and temples work, and why we chose each design over the alternatives.
14 October 2026Monster camps and danger zones in an open worldHow Mytheria places enemies in its open world: camps that fight as a group and come back at dawn, wanderers on roads, and danger zones you can't cheese.
14 October 2026The island reshuffles every day: keeping a map freshHow Mytheria moves its trees, rocks and creature dens a little every dawn, while roads, landmarks and home stay put, so the map stays fresh but familiar.
13 October 2026How to make a game world bigger without making it emptyHow Mytheria's island grew five times wider without feeling empty: named places, huge landmarks, roads, and something to find every few seconds.
12 October 2026Night and fog: designing danger that comes and goesHow Mytheria's nights work: a moon that makes creatures fierce, a fog that arrives once a night after a warning, and shelters that make it a choice.
12 October 2026Armor sets and upgrades that stay useful all gameHow Mytheria designs armor sets: one defence curve for every set, nine set bonuses to choose between, and honing that keeps a favourite set useful.
11 October 2026How to tell a story without cutscenesHow Mytheria tells its story with no cutscenes: one-line rune tablets in the world, place names, keepers' memories and dawn lines, found in any order.
11 October 2026Quest design: always give the player a next objectiveHow Mytheria's journal works: one objective on screen at a time, steps that complete from what you already did, search rings instead of exact pins.
10 October 2026Fast travel design: waystones that respect the mapHow Mytheria's fast travel works: 17 waystones where you'd go anyway, unlocked by visiting, priced by distance, and a channel that a single hit breaks.
9 October 2026Game economy design: setting prices with a curveHow we balance Mytheria's game economy: target curves for enemies and income, a model that sets every price, and play tests that check the model.
9 October 2026Health regeneration vs health pickups: why we chose orbsRegenerating health or health pickups? Why Mytheria heals with orbs from defeated creatures and rest in the light, with real numbers and a demo to try.
9 October 2026Dungeon design: ten floors, small puzzles and a boss at the bottomHow we design Mytheria's temple dungeons: ten hand-made floors, three tiny puzzle rules, a rest stop halfway, rising danger and a boss at the bottom.
8 October 2026Boss fight design: five bosses and what each one testsHow we design Mytheria's boss fights: a sealed door, an intro, three phases with a breather between, patterns that test something new and a real fall.
7 October 2026How to place trees and rocks so a map looks naturalHow Mytheria places its trees and rocks: drifts instead of random scatter, habitats with rules, clear roads and a world that gets richer away from home.
7 October 2026Game loop design: gather by day, survive the nightMytheria's core gameplay loop as a real example: a daily loop of gathering and night danger inside a region loop of settlements, upgrades and bosses.
6 October 2026How to balance weapons with a damage budgetHow we balance Mytheria's nine weapons: a damage budget per tier, every move costed in seconds of budget, with all 108 combinations measured in play.
4 October 2026How to design weapons that each feel differentHow we designed Mytheria's nine weapons around one verb each, from a harpoon that pulls to runes you set off later. See every weapon in play.
4 October 2026Day and night cycle in games: designing every hour of the dayHow Mytheria's day and night cycle works: a 12-minute day, a dangerous moonlit night, a fog that comes once a night, and a dawn every player shares.