A roguelite where positioning is the whole game
Weapons fire on their own, so the only things you control are where you stand and what build you grow into. The constraint makes every encounter about movement and risk rather than aim.
04 - Hobby Project
Catacrawl
A browser-based roguelite auto-shooter I'm building solo, for fun. Its hook: "weapons are themselves, you choose where to stand, and what to become." Combat is about positioning and build choices rather than aim, wrapped in pixel-art and account-based progression, talents, a compendium, a codex and achievements. Still in active development, with a native mobile version planned.
My role
Solo passion project. Game design, gameplay, the meta-progression systems, and the pixel-art direction, all built in my own time.
Highlights
Auto-shooter combat where positioning is the core. Persistent accounts with a talent tree, compendium, codex and achievements. Live in the browser today; a native mobile build is on the roadmap.
Technologies
TypeScriptReactCanvasVercel
catacrawl.vercel.app
The idea
Making "just one more run" feel earned
A roguelite lives or dies on its meta-progression. The goal is to give players a reason to come back between runs, talents, a compendium, a codex and achievements that feed long-term growth without trivialising the combat.
What I'm building
Auto-shooter combat and run structure
The core loop: runs built around auto-firing weapons and mid-run upgrades that reshape how your build plays. Rendered as pixel-art in the browser and tuned for fast, readable action with WASD movement.
Account-based meta-progression
Players log in and keep their progress: a talent tree, an unlockable compendium and codex, and achievements that persist across runs, long-term goals layered on top of individual sessions.
What's next
A native mobile build
Positioning-first, auto-firing combat is a natural fit for touch. A mobile version is the next major milestone, reworking controls and UI for small screens while keeping the same core loop.
What it's teaching me
Game development stretches different muscles than client work, real-time rendering, game-feel tuning, and balancing systems for long-term engagement. It's where I experiment with ideas that feed back into how I build everything else.