Project Aurora

The Opportunity

Project Aurora started from the opportunity to build a contemporary beat ‘em up where Brazilian identity is part of the game itself. Not just in the setting or the art, but in the characters, regions, combat styles, progression and narrative.

The challenge became turning that identity into systems, rather than relying on visual references alone.

My Role and Team

Project Aurora is being developed by a three-person team. I serve as Product Lead & Game Design Lead and own the main decisions around vision, systems, scope and prioritization.

My work is to turn the creative direction into a product the team can discuss, prioritize and build. That covers gameplay loop, characters, combat, progression, economy, campaign, hub and deciding what needs to be confirmed first.

The two developers own engineering decisions and implementation. We work together on feasibility discussions, architecture and technical trade-offs.

The team works collaboratively, with clear ownership by area. Product and game systems sit under my lead. Engineering and implementation belong to the two developers.

Brazil as a Game System

Brazilian identity directly shapes product design decisions:

The differentiation does not rely solely on art or setting. It is built into the game’s own rules and systems.

From Vision to System

A game idea is not yet a buildable product. Part of my work is breaking the vision into systems, behaviors, priorities and risks that the team can discuss and work through.

Core Game Loop

The diagram below represents the target product loop, including systems still in definition such as the full hub and progression.

The loop is designed so that every departure from the hub has a clear objective and every return offers a progression decision.

Three Decisions That Shape the Experience

Turning Menus Into Part of the World

The game needed to connect region selection, upgrades, items, NPCs, narrative, preparation and progression. The simplest path would have been a set of independent menus. The decision was to centralize all of those functions in a diegetic hub, an underground space that belongs to the game’s own world.

The trade-off is real: more art, content and implementation in exchange for greater coherence between navigation, narrative and progression. The full hub belongs to the product vision and will be built during the production phase.

Adding Depth Without Losing the Arcade Feel

The product includes planned progression and character evolution systems. The design challenge was making sure those layers do not turn a beat ‘em up into a menu-heavy RPG.

Progression systems are planned and partially defined. Full implementation is part of the Early Production phase.

Easy to Start, Hard to Master

Characters share a control foundation any player can pick up quickly. Depth comes from timing, positioning, combinations and the differences between combat styles.

The simple foundation allows immediate entry. The deeper systems reward players who decide to go further.

Validate the Core Before Scaling Content

Before producing characters, levels and enemies at scale, we needed to know whether movement and combat could hold up as an experience.

The PoC was used to reduce technical and gameplay risk before investing in character, region, enemy and campaign production. Content production begins with the foundations confirmed.

Current Stage and Product Vision

Everything in the product vision column is defined and planned. None of those items are presented here as delivered or implemented.

Product System Map

These systems were designed as parts of a single experience. Characters shape combat styles. Combat feeds into progression. Progression and preparation run through the hub. Regions organize the campaign and the narrative.

The map below represents the full product vision, not the current state of implementation.

From Product Decision to Implementation

My role does not end when a mechanic is defined in a document. It needs to become a system behavior the team can discuss technically.

That shows up in decisions about animation, controls, camera, character states, enemy behavior, HUD and system integration. Implementation and engineering decisions belong to the developers. My responsibility is the product intent, the expected behavior and the prioritization.

Next Phase

With the technical core confirmed, the focus now is turning that foundation into a first complete slice of the experience.

What is in progress or defined for this phase:

• architecture consolidation
• combat refinement
• enemy systems
• first complete content
• HUD refinement
• progression systems begin
• hub systems begin

These items represent the Early Production path, not delivery commitments.

What Still Needs Validation

Some product hypotheses still depend on playtesting to be answered. These are not identified problems. They are questions only a playable build can resolve.

Once the first complete content is playable, it will be possible to evaluate how combat feels in longer sessions, the overall pacing, difficulty, objective clarity and how the first complete slice holds up as an experience.

As character, progression and hub systems come online, a second set of questions will follow: whether character variety reads clearly in combat, whether progression adds depth without pulling focus from the action, whether the balance between arcade rhythm and deeper systems lands in the right place, and whether the hub fulfills its role with clarity.

What This Project Demonstrates