Epoch Spire is a first-person shooter roguelike, where players improve by discovering and understanding the secrets of a spire on an alien planet.

In Epoch Spire, players explore a procedurally generated spire, needing to reach the last floor. Players are able to shoot enemies with their laser gun and solve puzzles to acquire upgrades, being able to modify the behaviour of their laser gun with them. However, to solve puzzles and acquire upgrades players need to first acquire the knowledge to solve them. Therefore, players are likely to fail early on and are able to play again in a newly generated dungeon, only keeping their knowledge.

I developed this game as part of my master thesis. The goal of the project is to test out the thesis that knowledge-based progression has significant impact on player engagement and feeling of mastery in roguelikes.

To answer my thesis' research questions I conducted multiple user tests. To collect quantitative data I measured steam player data, which I tracked using Unity Analytics. Additionally, I used the opportunity of exhibiting Epoch Spire at Gamescom 2025 to collect qualitative user data, observing players and interviewing them after their play session. Using this data I was able to substantiate my thesis.

As the director of the project I led a team of 3 Animation & Game bachelor students and 2 Sound, Music and Production students. This includes teambuilding, communicating my vision, managing team members and project scope.

As the sole programmer, I fully programmed Epoch Spire. This includes the movement, first-person shooting, laser drawing, dungeon generation, enemy behaviour, user interface.

As the sole game designer I did the complete game design for the project. This includes the world building and writing a game design document.

Published on steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3806300/Epoch_Spire/