My game was boring until I added... mini-games?! (devlog)

I never saw a city-builder game collecting resources like this. Did you? Let me know!

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Early playtests of of my city-builder indie game, Dawnfolk, revealed it needed more excitement, so I came up with a unique solution that challenges traditional game design: mini-games! In this devlog, I'll walk you through why I added them, the design challenges, and how they transformed Dawnfolk from a perfectly predictable city-builder into something more surprising. Watch to see the mini-games in action and hear how your feedback shaped this feature. Try the free demo on Steam and experience it for yourself!

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Hi! I'm Darenn, a solo indie game developer, I previously worked as game designer at Ubisoft and I am now creating a strategy game with the Godot game engine.

Dawnfolk is a charmingly dark minimalist survival city-builder. Collect resources and rebuild your realm one tile at a time as you protect your settlers from oppressive shadows. Can you unveil the secrets of the monoliths to bring light back to the world?

LINKS
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CHAPTERS
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00:00 "Exciting Moments"
00:22 The problem of most Management Games
00:51 My Solution
01:37 Why this is a good idea
02:02 My favorite part, GAME DESIGN!
03:09 EVOLUTION!
03:36 A very tiny part for programmers
03:54 These 15 seconds crashed my video editor, please enjoy it
04:12 But did it work?
04:59 How do I stay motivated?

Read this far? Thanks! Please like this video, SUBSCRIBE and share with your friends. I would really appreciate it!

[darenn-keller]

What's your favorite part of city-builder and strategy games? 🤔
Share below—I’d love to hear your thoughts! If you're excited for the next devlog, don't forget to hit that subscribe button!

[olpacheco]

I really like the idea of removing the outcome from the UI because "Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of a game". Balatro faced a similar challenge, but I believe this approach for Dawnfolk is perfect. Also, this format fits very well with your devlogs, waiting for the next ones!

[ussi]

Absolutely loved the demo! I played for about an hour, and the minigames are incredibly fun and addictive—I can't get enough of them.

I do have a few notes on the demo, though, and I'm sure you've heard some of these already:

The sword minigame in battles could use a bit of fine-tuning. I often felt the sword took too long to change direction, even when I tried to move it as quickly as possible. The response felt slow, causing me to take unnecessary damage. Perhaps the enemies could move a bit slower, or the sword could have a larger margin of error. There were times I needed to correct my movement, but there wasn’t enough time to register it and successfully counter the enemy attack.

The minigames in general, while a great new feature, could benefit from more polishing. For example, the sprite sizes (like in the light catcher game) feel out of place. A starting countdown, as some other users mentioned, would be helpful. Additionally, a minigame for wolf attacks would be a great addition, along with better feedback, as I lost materials for a while before realizing wolves were invading the forests.

The campfire at the beginning of the game feels a bit off. I understand it represents the fire/light/Calcifer-like companion character that guides you, but the particle system doesn’t seem to suit it very well. The render is so fluid and smaller than the surrounding pixels, which makes it look out of place. A sprite-based pixel art animation might fit better here.

The UI when upgrading or interacting with buildings is a bit confusing. I like the design, but seeing the background tiles under the UI can be disorienting.

I'm really looking forward to seeing more of this project! I just stumbled upon your channel through this video, and I've already wishlisted the game and subscribed. Keep up the great work!

[DocGeraud]

Lots of really good insights mate! I'm personally fund of those mini games, possibly one of my favorite part of your game 😊

[SkylorBeck]

I have absolutely played my own games to the point of saying "this game is stupid. What am I doing?" Relatable as fuck

[GreenCrowDev]

I really like the mini-games idea! Keep going!

[NickCoyour]

Great ideas, I love that idea of the mini games

[KamranWali]

Awesome video! Your game looks super beautiful. I really like the relaxing city building vibe of it. Also your mini games looks really fun and I think is done in a clever way. I remember Nier Automata having the hacking mini-game which was well done as well and went with the game. Your one looks like it would also compliment that main game. Looking forward to your next devlog. Keep it up! :)

[kevin_parkerson]

I really enjoyed the mini games when playing the demo however I do have a bit of feedback: it should be very clear when one is about to start. Initially there was a (fantastic!) instructional when encountering a new type of mini game prior to starting that also served to draw attention to the game and prepare for it commencing. I don't recall if I blindly skipped by a notification for subsequent mini games of the same type, but it felt like they kicked off as soon as I selected harvest / pray / etc. Unfortunately there were a few times where I was caught up in my village planning and forgot that a mini game would commence, so I missed a bit of it at the start, losing out on potential rewards. I think having a notification that says "Get ready! Mini game commencing" with a 3-second countdown prior to the mini game kicking off would be an excellent solution. Perhaps it could be skippable for experienced players who want to power through. Getting to know the game better would of course reduce the occurrence of this problem naturally, but a small bit of UI might save newer players some frustration.

The demo was great though, looking forward to the final product!

[krevetka]

UI animations look juicy, I love it. Zooming, squishing and spinning of the cursor rectangle. Great.

Harvest minigame could use some highlights though (color, outline, particle trail, anything really). Because I can barely see the fruit.

[fuzzy-]

The art style remimded me od "The King is Watching" game

[hamzahgamedev]

This is Awesome!
I am myself planning to add minigames for cooking and fishing in my open world farming game and it is super cool to see how u implemented it in ur game. Your game is BEAUTIFUL by the way! Wishlisting it now! 💪

[syl_]

Je viens d'installer le jeu, je reviens commenter quand j'aurais joué un peu !

[Tbjbu]

the minigames seem cool although I am concerned that the players who are interested in strategy games won't really be too much into the minigames. but I guess just see what people say about it after the play. thanks for the video!

[orc_spearman]

I'm not sure about these mini games, could be good but I'd definitely give it to playtesters

[Muhammed_English]

You sound like GameMakersToolKit but with a French accent!