Becoming a Game Dev – First Game Idea “Sweet Revenge”

My inner game developer was already starting to emerge when I was around 15 or 16 years old. To give you some context, this must have been around 2011–2012. It probably wasn’t the first time I had thought about making a video game, but it was the first time I had a clear idea and actually wanted to bring it to life. Basically, I would obsess over the project for a few days and then lose interest, as often happens with personal projects. Although now I’ve learned to keep going even after the initial adrenaline fades.

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Let’s get into it. My idea was to create a video game called Sweet Revenge. The protagonist would be a boy very similar to Hei (the main character of my game Hei) who loves donuts. One day he sees a donut that looks very special in a museum display case and steals it. When he takes a bite, candy zombies appear everywhere and try to kill him. While running away, he finds a gun that allows him to defend himself. It doesn’t make much sense, but I think if I pitched the idea to Edmund McMillen, he’d buy it without hesitation.

I even made a logo and a comic to explain the story.

As for the game design and core mechanics, it was meant to be a turn-based game where the character could choose to attack with a weapon, move, or stay still. Scattered around the stage there would be crates containing elemental ammo for the weapons. Each attack required at least one element to function, and enemies would have strengths and weaknesses against different elements.

The “candy zombies,” as I called them, would have a health bar. There would be levels for both the main character and the enemies, along with an experience system. Leveling up the protagonist would allow for more actions per turn. Additionally, each weapon could be upgraded to increase its damage.

I don’t remember it very clearly, but I think it was supposed to be a 2D game with verticality, divided into levels, where randomness played an important role. Crates would grant one of eight possible elements, and there would also be other types of crates (gum crates, surprise crates, etc.). The in-game currency would be chewing gum, which would be used to upgrade weapons and buy accessories.

The elements were:

• Screws (steel)

• Water balloons (water)

• Coins (steel again?)

• Lighters (fire)

• Ice cream (ice)

• Batteries (electricity)

• Branches (plant)

• Stones (rock)

There would be four types of weapons: the gun, the slingshot, the sword, and the bomb. Each one had a slot to insert the desired element. The weapons would change appearance depending on the element used. And here comes a bit of madness: right now I don’t fully understand what I wrote, but it looks like I made a damage table per weapon including variables like damage, shield, range, and additional gum. My first game design Excel sheet…

I even drew the character’s animations with each weapon! Incredible. The level of detail and planning, despite having absolutely no idea about game development, was impressive. Until I got tired of it and the project was never heard of again… until today.

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And that’s Sweet Revenge. I don’t think it will ever become real, but it’s a nice memory and makes me reflect on many things. Were you expecting a big conclusion about what this game means to me? Well, no. It’s simply a curiosity. Not everything needs a grand ending.

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Update: I just discovered that I even started making the game’s weapons in pixel art.