Introducing Merlin's Midnight Dash – A Festive Chaos of Christmas & Avocados! 🎄🚀

Get ready to outrun the law, dodge absurd tickets, and deliver presents like never before!

For the next jam I decided to go with the concept for Merlin's Midnight Dash, a fast-paced, PAC-MAN-inspired arcade game where Merlin, Santa’s clumsy but determined caretaker, must navigate the snowy streets on Christmas Eve, delivering presents while being relentlessly pursued by Avocado police enforcers.

I will try to maintain some of the stealth mechanics for the last jam (Pizza Jam) but will try something that doesn't require so much Level Design on my part. I haven't done too many levels in 3D in my carreer so this is something that takes a lot of time and a stealth game requires an experienced level designer to do it well - the depth of the level, its details, make a lot of difference to enable several hiding places as well as patrolling paths for the enemies. 

With a more arcade style of gameplay, inspired in PAC-MAN, i will be able to focus on the features and most of the game design will be on game balancing which I am more comfortable with and can do a decent job in a game jam time frame.

A Game Made for Paywall Eden Jam

This project is being developed for the «Paywall Eden» by Playgama.com & Xsolla: $2000 Prize Pool 💸 - itch.io, where creators explore themes of monetization, obstacles, and financial barriers in games. 

I think Merlin's Midnight Dash fits the theme well —every time Merlin is caught, he must pay a ticket fine or bribe the Avocados to escape. However, delaying payments leads to presents being confiscated. If too many gifts are lost, Christmas is canceled! The payment will be made with microtransactions, so you actually have to pay to get rid of the fines.

The game embraces a fun, satirical take on bureaucratic barriers while keeping the gameplay fast and engaging. Players must weigh their financial choices while staying ahead of their mischievous pursuers.

A Nod to Nostalgia – Reviving Old Merlin Assets

As in other games, I will use old assets from projects I worked troughout my carreer. I have access and rights to these assets and I have no skills whatsoever to do 2D or 3D art. So it is a nice way to remember old projects while focusing on coding and game design that I can do myself. 

If Merlin looks familiar to some (probably none), it’s because I am bringing it back the assets from classic Flash games developed long ago! This is a special homage to the past, breathing new life into beloved characters while introducing them to modern audiences in a fully 3D experience, developed in Unity.

Some of the old Merlin games can still be played in Flash Archive sites. An Android version is still available in the Amazon Android Store here.

What to Expect Next?

I’ll be sharing frequent updates on the development of the game during the Jam. 

Stay tuned for more updates, and get ready to deliver Christmas like never before! 🎁🚀