In many cases, the best-known indie titles prior to release involved efforts from the developer to involve a community with the process of creation, whether that be through playtesting or regular updates. This also accomplishes the goal giving a personal window into the world of indie game development, showing the hardships that come with such an undertaking alongside the triumph of release. The developer of the recently announced Nightmare Hunter Galaxy takes all of these concepts and puts them on display in the latest update video on the project. In addition to the game’s announcement on Steam, it also received a demo comprised of all the effort that went into the project so far.

In the announcement trailer for the game, the main character drops into the world and quickly gets to work fighting enemies. Once an enemy falls to low enough Hp, one of the game’s unique mechanics is used, letting the player use the weakened enemy as a projectile by rotating toward its ally. The roguelike progression is expressed through various items locked away in chests. Putting them to the test will be a series of randomly generated levels each playthrough complete with four enemy types and a boss encounter.

As much as the announcement trailer itself, the update video by Green Box Games gives insights into the game’s demo and why it exists in the state that it does. The developer spent five years considering solutions to the difficulties that play testers had, offering specific examples such as unclear visuals for mechanics and making sure to introduce boss attacks before they are tested.

The process of making a video game can often be more abstract than other creative endeavors due to how complicated it can be. With indie games becoming more available for people to make, however, stories of creation and games themselves are growing easier and easier to spread. Nightmare Hunter Galaxy has a demo available on Steam now.