iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Try out the game for free on Steam! store.steampowered.com/app/4519920/... 🧵5/5

A screenshot of the Steam page for Unholy Roller, focusing on the newly-added section to playtest the game. A red circle and arrows point to the "Play Now" button, as well as a crudely drawn pin pointing to it. Another arrow points to the "Add to your wishlist" button below it, with "this too" written beside it.

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The last few changes were all subtle tweaks to existing textures like the floor tiles and pin gloves. These were the last remnants of before the art style shift last year. Even if the old textures sufficed, I believe the new ones give the game that extra level of polish to feel “complete.” 🧵4/5

A showcase of several visual tweaks made to some game sprites. The first shows a before and after of wooden floor tiles, becoming brighter and shinier. The second shows a before and after of yellow gloves used by the pins, where their shapes are more organic and realistic.

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Another big addition was the dummy pin; it’s actually been in the game for a while now, just without its own unique texture. Its design is based on video game training dummies and ragdolls. I absolutely love how it turned out and really want a plushie of it on my desk! 🧵3/5

A collage of sketches of the dummy pin, a ragdoll shaped like a bowling pin. The dummy has a rope around its neck, several discolored patches across its body, and Xs over its eyes.

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First up is the Brawler boss fight. Up until now, most of the game’s animation was handled in-engine with keyframes or with simple sprite swaps. The Brawler definitely tested my animation skills with several fully-rendered frames, including my first attempt at smear frames. 🧵2/5

A collage of sketches of the Brawler, a rugged bowling pin with a tattered bandana around its neck. The top half of the collage shows iterations on the overall design, while the bottom half shows in-progress screenshots of a spinning animation.

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Now that the Steam playtest for Unholy Roller is out, I can finally talk about what I’ve been working on this summer! There’s a lot I could say about every new feature and visual upgrade in this version, but I’ll just go over the highlights. 🧵1/5 #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #art #animation

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Instead of trying to inject personality into a functional layout, I found success by creating eye-catching visuals and gradually dialing it back to make it functional. Lifting the constraints I placed on myself gave me way more creative freedom than I originally had. (5/6)

Digital mockups of various menus in the finalized design style, including the level select, options, and level complete menus

Trying to push myself further, I made a completely wacky layout that covered the entire screen with intense shapes and colors. After a few iterations, I was genuinely shocked how cool and fun it looked. This style later became the foundation for Unholy Roller’s branding and visual design. (4/6)

Digital mockups of the level select menu with the same layout as before, but with bold black-and-white panels and a red halftone background

About a month later, I went back to the drawing board and collected a bunch of new references, including 90s and 2000s cartoons. I made a layout I was happy with, but the design still wasn’t quite there. It was missing that energetic feeling I couldn’t seem to replicate. (3/6)

Digital mockups of the level select menu, focused on colorful panels and a wooden background

The first pass began in mid-September and reflected my usual design style: clean, neat, and organized. But this style didn’t mesh well with the loud, chaotic nature of Unholy Roller. I really struggled to break out of my comfort zone, so I decided to take a break and put the task on hold. (2/6)

Digital sketches of various menu designs and layouts

Joshua Ward @jdoubleu.dev · 13/10/2025

As the fall semester comes to a close, I wanted to highlight one of the things I’m most proud of about Unholy Roller. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at designing our new menus and UI! (1/6) #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame

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Once the Burner lights itself on fire, the pin’s body glows red hot and opens its jaws wide. I’m super happy with how the art and animation turned out, and you can see it for yourself in our most recent build! speakerbeak.itch.io/unholy-roller (4/4)

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Joshua Ward @jdoubleu.dev · 13/10/2025

I struggled with the design at first because, unlike a standard tenpin, candlepins have a band around their center instead of the top. This made the face placement look weird, so I experimented with a bandana covering the Burner’s eyes. That bandana eventually became a Cyclops-esque visor. (3/4)

A giant digital canvas shows many early concept drawings of the Burner, as well as reference images of real-life candlepins. Some drawings illustrate the Burner's neutral state, while others prototype the attack animation.