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Not my war

Overview

Not My War is a 3D isometric stealth and exploration game where the player encarnates a small white ferret. Explore, survive, and escape an island overrun by deadly machines.

I worked as a Game and Level Designer on this project, designing core stealth mechanics, levels, and gameplay systems while collaborating closely with the art and programming teams.

Steam

Project details

My Contributions

Design Challenges

The challenge

Gadgets are one of the core mechanics of Not My War, limited-use tools that are obtained by a crafting system, which were designed to give players options against enemies. Their scarcity was a deliberate design choice to encourage cautious, deliberate play.

Playtests revealed a critical failure: encounters didn't require gadgets to complete, so players ignored them entirely. Without mandatory usage, the system felt optional and underwhelming, leading to low engagement and a missed opportunity to enrich the core stealth gameplay.

Our approach

We redesigned encounters to make gadget usage mandatory for progression. The change had an immediate effect — playtest sessions showed higher engagement and players consistently reported the game felt more fun once they were required to use the gadgets.

What broke

Mandatory gadget requirements, combined with limited supply and crafting-based acquisition, created softlocks. Players could reach a required encounter without the necessary items and have no way to continue.

How we fixed it

  • Removed crafting. The system added friction to the core loop without meaningful payoff. Removing it simplified gadget acquisition and kept the gameplay focused on stealth.
  • Gadgets are now scattered around the world. Gadgets are now distributed across the map, with deliberate placement before mandatory gadget encounter zones to guarantee players are always ready.
  • Pre-encounter checkpoints. Checkpoints are placed before gadget zones to ensure players re-enter encounters fully stocked after failure. Each zone also provides more gadgets than strictly required, rewarding players with an extra supply for later use.

Result

Gadget engagement increased significantly. Now players interact with the system consistently throughout the game.

Scarcity is preserved, maintaining the resource-management tension that defines the game's stealth-puzzle identity.

Softlocks eliminated. The core loop is simpler and more focused on the primary stealth experience.

The challenge

01 — Pacing
Early playtests revealed a flat, exhausting structure. Encounters were stacked back to back with no breathing room, causing difficulty spikes and player fatigue. Players had no space to rest, which made difficulty feel inconsistent and punishing.
02 — Player orientation
The level had no clear progression path. Heavy branching caused players to consistently get lost during early playtest sessions, breaking immersion and creating frustration.

Our approach

  • Pacing: We redesigned the level progression around a structured rhythm, alternating encounters with exploration segments, narrative beats, and key progression moments.

    Each encounter was designed and tested independently as a self-contained unit, then reintegrated into the level as a puzzle piece. This allowed us to tune difficulty progressively and deliberately.

    Before

    Encounter
    Encounter
    Exploration
    Encounter

    After

    Encounter
    Exploration
    Encounter
    Narrative
    Encounter
    Key moment

  • Orientation: I personally prototyped a door system, with shortcuts and keys, to give us a tool to control player flow. Shortcut doors worked as smaller checkpoints, while locked doors created clear landmarks and forced players to follow a more readable path. This way, we unlocked areas after completing biome-final encounters, reducing backtracking and rewarding progression.

    We also added a map that unlocked incrementally as players explored, giving spatial context without handing them all information upfront.

Result

Difficulty spikes eliminated. Encounter difficulty now scales progressively and consistently across the levels.

Players no longer get lost. The door system creates a readable progression path without removing exploration.

The incremental map gives players agency over spatial awareness without breaking the game's tense atmosphere.