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Dungeons & Doors
Store Page: https://expiredjam.itch.io/dungeonsdoors
Genre: Single Player, Strategy, Card Game
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Team Size: 6
Role: Game Designer, Game Lead
Duration: February 2024 - August 2024​
Platform: PC ( Windows & Mac)
Game Summary
Dungeons & Doors is a single-player, first-person tabletop card game where a row of doors separates the player’s cards from the opponent’s.
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Players strategically play cards and use keys to open or close doors, shaping the battlefield. Featuring Dragons, Knights, and Goblins in a rock-paper-scissors dynamic, the game offers intuitive yet strategic gameplay.
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Points are earned by attacking empty spaces, with the goal of reaching a target score to win.
Context
Dungeons & Doors was originally created for the 2024 Brackeys Game Jam by a team of university peers, including both familiar and new collaborators. Due to time constraints, we couldn’t complete the game within the jam’s deadline but decided to continue development afterward. This time pressure led us to maintain a small scope and prioritize implementation over early prototyping.
My Role
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Game Design
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Came up with and iterated on the initial design
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Created and filled out the game design document
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Conducted playtest sessions and made iterations based off of feedback
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Designed tutorial
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Integration
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Setup all the materials using the texture maps created by our artists
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Laid out all the objects in the scene
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Setup lighting
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Programs Used:
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Google Docs for Documentation
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Unreal Engine 5 for making the game
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Blender for adjusting model origins, also rigged and animated the envelop opening and closing
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Jira for task management
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Design Process
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Developed the concept based on the game jam theme, "What's Behind the Door."
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Conceived a first-person card game where players open doors for the cards to act.
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Prioritized the door mechanic as the core gameplay element, ensuring other features complemented rather than overshadowed it.
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Designed enemy behaviors and provided detailed documentation for the programmer.
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Conducted playtests, analyzed feedback, and iterated on the game design document for implementation.
Design Questions
Why Keys?
Keys limit which doors the player can open, adding strategic depth while preserving meaningful decision-making.
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Why can the player only draw a key or one card per turn?
This restriction balances resource management and strategy, ensuring each decision matters.
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Why only three cards?
Originally developed for a game jam, the three-card system kept the scope manageable. Even after expanding the project, we retained this design choice to keep the focus on the door mechanics rather than cards themselves.
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Iteration
Old build - card is selected and cursor is hovering over position, no indicator
Final build - card is selected and cursor is hovering over position, glowing outline to confirm valid placement
Problem: During playtesting, players struggled to place cards accurately. They were unsure where to position the mouse and couldn't easily determine valid placement areas.
Solution: We introduced card outlines in front of each door to indicate valid placement spots. Additionally, the outlines now glow when a player selects a card and hovers over a valid position, providing clear visual feedback.
What I learned
Paper prototype and playtest early!
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We didn’t prioritize paper prototyping or early playtesting, leading to UX issues and gameplay that could have been more refined. While later playtests helped address UX problems, earlier testing would have allowed for deeper system improvements.​​
Game Design Doc
On top of including all the documentation from the production of the game, I also expanded on this game with what I would add if we were to continue developing it.