Skating and extreme sports games were a big part of my teenage years, and I wanted to create a dynamic, hard-hitting game that wasn't combat oriented. I also wanted to do something new with the genre that enhanced what makes extreme sports games fun.
After a lot of experimentation, I landed on the gravity mechanic. Now your epic jumps can span multiple dimensions as you orbit objects in space. Flip switches and make repairs to alter gravity and change how you navigate a level. This opens up a simple puzzle mechanic that gives the game depth.
From a story perspective, I wanted to explore humanity's relationship to technology and the temptation of trying to gain totalizing control over our lives and an imperfect reality. A story about the pursuit of technological advancement at the expense of our humanity, and how the lust for control over life, death and the material world leads to the destruction of our souls. A story about belonging despite being the product of dark injustices and the quest for purpose in a world marred by meaninglessness.
Again, I'm totally fine...
Penitent Games is a one-man independent game studio (although, I'm looking for a 3D artist to join the project, so hit me up if you're interested). Cybordz is my first commercial title, built from scratch in Unity over late nights, early mornings, and with an unhealthy obsession with skateboarding games.
Although my game is about the darker side of technology, I'm not anti-technology, and I do use AI to help me develop faster and handle the marketing side of the business. I've also written over 50,000 lines of code without the help of AI. Rest assured, Cybordz will not be a vibe-coded, AI slop game.
Cybordz is available now as a free playtest on Steam. If you'd like to try it out, click the button below — and feel free to reach out on Discord or X with any feedback.
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