Blood Maiden - 3D Side-scrolling Roguelike Speedrunner

Overview

Blood Maiden is a fast-paced roguelike built around a single core constraint: you must reach safety before sunrise. The narrative and gameplay are tightly intertwined — blood functions as both a mechanical resource and a storytelling device, shaping movement, combat, and progression.

You play as a young woman murdered in the 1700s by a cruel aristocrat obsessed with eternal youth, bathing in the blood of his victims to stay immortal. A hundred years later, Victorian industrialisation disturbs your forgotten grave, sparking your resurrection and igniting a thirst for vengeance. Reawakened with supernatural bloodbending powers, you must fight your way through a Victorian world of decaying graveyards, haunted forests, and city to reach the palace where your killer still resides. Along the way, you’ll face hordes of enemies, traverse dangerous terrain, and manipulate blood to move and fight in ways the living never could.

But time is your greatest enemy. Your undead body is bound to the darkness. If the sun rises before you reach the next sanctuary, you’ll be paralyzed, helpless, and forced to begin your journey again. Every level is a race against dawn, pushing you to master your movement, optimize your route, and survive deadly encounters under constant pressure.

The intention behind this narrative was to create a story that fits the speedrun-focused brief: a tight, time-pressured journey where the core mechanic directly drives the plot. Blood becomes both the heroine’s power source and the central narrative engine, shaping movement, combat and progression. The theme of blood is reinterpreted beyond traditional vampire tropes, using it instead as a symbol of stolen life, rebirth and revenge within a fast-paced roguelike structure.

My Contribution

Narrative Design and Systems & Mechanics Alignment

• Developed the core narrative concept and the character arc: from a mindless revenant → to a conscious entity, seeking to reclaim her stolen blood
  
• Built the world logic around blood as a system:
  • - Blood as fuel for abilities
  • - Losing blood = weakening identity
  • - Sunlight = systemic threat tied to lore
  • - Blood as memory trigger
  • - Blood as narrative progression mechanic - movement speed, aggression, and fluidity reflect blood level
• Worldbuilding & Lore Document - click here

• Created and structured audiomemories:
  • - optional narrative fragments unlocked through progression
  • - used as a relief point between speedrun parts

Audiomemories:

• - Audio memory scene 1 - Crypt
• - Audio memory scene 2 - Catacombs
• - Audio memory scene 3 - Graveyard
• - Audio memory scene 4 - Roof

Key Focus

• Narrative as system, not decoration
• Storytelling that doesn’t interrupt gameplay
• Designing for speed, clarity, and emotional payoff simultaneously

Challenges

• Balancing narrative delivery with speedrun pacing
• Avoiding exposition while maintaining clarity
• Keeping systems readable under time pressure

Tools Used