Devlog #1: giving my little bomber a personality

Hi! I'm Alex, a solo dev, and this is the thread where I'll keep posting progress on BOMBBONK: Bomberman × Megabonk. You drop cross-shaped bombs, step out of the blast, level up into wilder bombs, break the three seals on each layer and drop down the shaft to the next one. It's free to play in the browser (and on Windows, Mac and Linux): https://n3at18.itch.io/bombbonk

This week was all about the hero.

He got cuter. Bigger helmet, stubby legs, round boots, chunky mitts, and a rebuilt scarf and cape that now swing with spring physics. The animations are now proper clips with squash and stretch on jumps and landings, and he blinks.

He reacts now. His face follows what's going on: worried when a fuse is about to go or he's on his last hearts, focused with a guardian close, smug on a kill, happy on a pickup. His head turns toward whatever matters most, like the bomb that's about to go off.

My favourite: the uh-oh moment. Drop a bomb, back yourself into a dead end... He turns to the bomb, clutches his helmet, looks left and right, then turns to the camera and shrugs. If the blast catches him, he comes out covered in soot with a smoking helmet. You keep full control the whole time, so you can still try to escape.

All of this lands in the next build.

What's next: a voice for him (little grunts and yelps), and giving the guardians some personality too.

Thanks for reading! Tell me what you'd like him to react to next.

Devlog #2: new build, a clearer first run, and a little YouTube experiment

A new build (0.1.2) is up, free in the browser and on Windows, Mac and Linux: https://n3at18.itch.io/bombbonk

What's new:

- A clearer start. I realised new players might not get that bombs are your only weapon, so the first run now opens on "BOMBS ONLY!" and a prompt that stays up until you drop your first bomb: F or Left Click to drop it, then run out of its cross.

- Fewer interruptions. Level-ups came way too often and kept breaking the flow, so early on they're now about half as frequent.

- Personality. The little bomber reacts now: he panics when he traps himself with his own bomb, waves awkwardly when he walks into a room full of guardians, naps if you leave him alone, and says a few words. The guardians got feelings too: they spot you, stare, sweat and get angry.

A side experiment: I've been posting short clips to YouTube Shorts to see what people actually respond to. So far it's pretty clear: not the mechanics, but personality and emotion. The clip where he realises he's trapped himself did best. Here's one:

If you're trying something similar, what has worked for you on Shorts or TikTok? I'd love to compare notes. And if you like the little guy, a follow or a like here helps a lot. Thanks for reading!