Department of Malicious VaguenessMVP
The Department of Malicious Vagueness is a social roguelite combining elements from Papers Please and Slay the Spire set in an afterlife DMV where doing your job too well gets you promoted out of existence and slacking off gets you fired into oblivion.
As the Encounter Designer, I designed and implemented a roster of enemies with mechanics and behaviors that reinforce narrative themes and advanced player skill progression. This culminates in a multi-phase boss encounter that tests the player's mastery of game systems.
- Engine: Unity
- Role: Encounter Designer, Programming
- Team: 6 core team members
Responsibilities
Enemy Design
- Lead development of Enemy Design Framework
- Owned enemy and boss documentation
- Balanced Difficulty Pacing
- Designed Resource and Tension Management
Boss Design
- Lead design of non-linear multi-phase boss encounter
- Assisted in Art Direction
- Assisted in Narrative Design
MVP Scope & Constraints
- Included: Core enemy roster slice, ability gating curve, resource/tension pacing, single multi-phase boss.
- Deferred: Meta-progression systems, extended analytics UI, additional boss variants, advanced VFX & polish layers.
- Goal: Validate player learning cadence & encounter loop clarity before expanding content breadth.
Enemy Design
New Player Experience, Difficulty, and Pacing
Problem: Early builds exposed every ability immediately, producing option paralysis and longer first-turn dwell time.
Insight: Player more likely to not experiment due to cognitive overload.
Solution: Layered ability unlocks + tutorial encounter + enemy queue preview to externalize upcoming threats.
- Gated unlock curve
- Tutorial encounter with tightly scoped verbs
- Enemy queue: future intent surfaced upfront
Resource and Tension Management
Designed specific enemy abilities & resistances to force meaningful resource management trade–offs.
- Player may choose low-impact removal (no trigger) to conserve limited resources.
- Deathknell:A conditional trigger that produces a beneficial swing (cleanse / advantage) if timed correctly. Possible cleanse & boost if timed; penalty if ignored.
- Non-mitigable states: Forces adaptive sequencing of ability usage.
- Behavior shifts: Later enemies punish static planning.
Skill Expression: Correct high-impact trade decisions improved from 30% → 60%.
Implemented Visual & Textual Tells
Problem: Players didn't fully understand causal links between enemy actions and resource changes.
Solution: Added per-action numeric feedback & predictive intent using Intent TellA pre-action indicator (text/icon) communicating what an enemy will do next to aid tactical planning. messaging plus severity-coded icons.
Result: “What happened?” inquiries dropped; intent prediction accuracy improved.
Enemy Design Framework
Authored a reusable documentation + data schema enabling rapid enemy prototyping and consistent balancing across tiers.
- Unified ability template (Scriptable Object fields)
- Clear progression tiers & gating rules
- Balance guidelines + test matrix
Boss Design
Non-Linear State Design
Multi-state architecture: players choose initial engagement order, which gives replay incentive.
- State A(Enraged): Strong resource pressure
- State B(Pacified): Slow down pacing and intensity
- State C(Neutral): Randomized resource pressure
Result: More positive player sentiment; better player retention.
Encounter Progression
Designed phase escalation to sync resource depletion with narrative stakes—minimizing trivial end-phases.
- Phase 1: Establish baseline pacing & economy
- Phase 2: Introduce layered overlapping threats
- Phase 3: Compression—forces mastery-level prioritization
Result: Average failure point shifted from Phase 1 to Phase 3 indicating healthier curve.
Art Direction & Communication
Worked with artist to ensure that phase transitions delivered diegetic narrative cues aligned with mechanical escalation—rewarding survival with context.
- Transition stingers(art) reinforce boss emotional state
- Color palette shifts signal difficulty ramp
- Ambient audio layering increases perceived tension
Result: Improved player understanding of boss mechanics and emotional states.
Encounter Flow & Boss State Diagrams
Glossary
- Deathknell
- A conditional enemy or effect trigger that grants a positive swing (e.g., cleanse, momentum shift) only if removed or activated at a timing window; punishes premature or negligent interaction.
- Intent Tell
- A pre-action indicator (text/icon/value) that communicates the enemy's upcoming behavior to enable proactive planning and reduce unexplained feedback loops.
Future Improvements
Items below were intentionally deferred beyond MVP scope to accelerate validation.
- Automated difficulty scaler refining enemy composition weightings
- Expanded tell system: layered audio cues for high-severity moves
- Post-encounter analytics screen surfacing resource efficiency