Lost N' Found
2D roguelike game
Step into the shoes of the famous treasure-hunting penguin, Gasaá Cinca, and escape a mysterious desert. Avoid dying of thirst and find the exit. But be careful! This desert doesn't seem ordinary... There's something strange and dark happening there.
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Story
On another of his expeditions and quests, the famous treasure-hunting penguin, Gasaá Cinca, encounters a problem with his plane mid-flight, causing him to crash into a mysterious desert that... appeared out of nowhere? Strange...
As you adventure through the desert, you realize something is wrong—it feels like you always end up in different places no matter where you go! How do you navigate like this?
Being a penguin, you have limited time before you die of thirst, so you need to find resources to stay hydrated while trying to escape this confusing maze and face supernatural enemies. Could they have something to do with your "accident"?
Development
In early 2020, we began what would be our last project in college, our final thesis. It had a one-year development timeline and we could approach it however we wanted. Initially, we decided to create a 2D Metroidvania-style game with exploration mechanics and the use of magic through cards.
By mid-2020, we focused on this initial project, named "Essence Shatter". However, due to some setbacks caused by the pandemic and the departure of one of our trio members from college, my partner and I decided to start a new, simpler game that we could finish on time. As a result, the "Essence Shatter" project was shelved, and we began development on "Lost N' Found".
With only half of the initial time frame and a game to build from scratch, we focused on something simple and easy to implement in order to speed up the process. We opted for a Roguelike style, where the map is always randomly generated. However, with the idea of being in a desert, we added one more detail to the map generation: the rooms would ALWAYS change, even if you returned to the same spot, the room would be different.
With this in mind, we focused on room-generation mechanics and implemented dehydration mechanics and simple combat. By the end of 2020, we were able to deliver a fully finished, functional game that marked the end of our journey in the digital games college program. The game is available to play for free online.
Gallery
Lost N' Found
Essence Shatter
