Dragon Kisser
A souls-like boss fight crossed with a dating sim, built as a vertical slice by a student team of about 30.
- Role
- Lead gameplay programmer & producer
- Team
- ~30 across design, art, and engineering
- Built with
- Unreal Engine 5, C++
- Timeline
- 2025–2026
Overview
Dragon Kisser set out to produce a high-quality vertical slice under professional production standards. I owned the core gameplay systems, from design through implementation, and refined the boss's attack animations until they read clearly and felt fair to fight.
Alongside that, I ran production: weekly one-on-ones with each discipline to track goals and unblock deadlines, and a playtest every Friday for the second half of development.
What playtesting changed
Watching players every Friday showed us where the fight broke down faster than any design review could.
We focused on what made players laugh, what they remembered after putting the game down, and what frustrated them in the moment. These areas of focus helped us to create gameplay full of memorable moments and calculated challenges that kept players engaged.
Leading a team of 30
Balancing the schedules of so many busy college students was one of the hardest parts of the project. The inconsistency frustrated me at first, but it turned into a chance for disciplines to blend. Programmers who had to rough out animations learned to say exactly what they needed, and artists who implemented their own assets started building them to fit the game's systems.
The biggest lesson was how much a small group can accomplish with regular stretch goals, direct feedback, and real recognition when those goals are met. Transparency and consistent follow-up kept everyone pulling the same direction.
What I'd carry forward
Design systems that can scale, find the fun early, and put the game in front of players constantly. Every Friday playtest showed me something about how players were actually engaging with our systems that I couldn't have predicted from the editor.
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