In most of my previous projects, I always started with an idea for a core mechanic.
From there I would build small prototypes and only later start thinking about where I could get the art for what I wanted to do.

I’m a programmer, and I like to think of myself as an enthusiast of game design (I’ve read plenty of books about it).
But I’m terrible at everything related to art.

So this time, I decided to take a different approach.

I decided to go with 2D. That was already a starting point.
And because I wanted to make something small and without too much art complexity, pixel art felt like a natural choice.

Then the second part of the plan began:

Find some assets that made me feel like I wanted to build a game around them.

The idea of the game? I wasn’t sure yet.
I just wanted to find an asset pack that inspired me.

That’s when I found this one: Dungeon Asset Pack

I loved it immediately.
In fact, I especially loved the Vampire animation — which, ironically, I barely used in the final version. But that’s a story for another post.

Still, it definitely felt like something I could build an idea around.

After a couple of brainstorming sessions, I decided to go with a turn-based idea.
But after some quick prototyping, I realized I needed a twist.

So the idea became: no turns — only reactions.

Enemies would only react after player movements.
They would move in response to what the player did.

At the same time, there would be no classic turn system for the player either.
Instead, the player could move the same character two or three times in a row while that character still had movement points available.

Okay — that was a start.

Soon I realized I would need more characters for this idea, so the second part of the search began: finding asset packs that matched the style.

After some digging I found:

Great! Now I had a full roster of characters and something to build the UI with.

Then came the time to start thinking about enemies, characters, and abilities.

Was this the correct approach?

In this case, it worked for me. It gave me focus.

I found something I wanted to put on screen and, after buying the assets, they felt like they were mine — part of the project.

Was it original?
Definitely not. Other games were already using the same assets.

Did I care?
This time, not at all.

Remember — it’s all about expectations (see the previous post). My goal was to create a game and publish something, not to create the next big indie hit.

This way of thinking also removed a certain weight from my back.

I actually like buying assets — but I almost never use them.

I always wait for “the perfect idea” or for “the right moment” to start a project.

As you probably know, that moment rarely comes.

So this time, I decided it was going to be different.