Joshua Ward

Joshua Ward

@jdoubleu.dev

Howdy! I'm a game designer, developer, artist, and cold-weather enjoyer. Currently working on Unholy Roller @unholyrollergame.bsky.social

18 followers40 following17 posts

Joshua Ward reposted

Unholy Roller
@unholyrollergame.bsky.social

We have a couple local events happening in the Rochester area! Come to RIT these next couple weeks (starting today!) to play the game on an arcade machine. At ROC Game Fest we'll being showing off our SECOND WORLD with new enemies, hazards, and art! We'll see you there! #indiegame #rocgamefest

Joshua Ward reposted

Unholy Roller
@unholyrollergame.bsky.social

We are excited to announce our participation in the Steam Pins and Pegs Fest! Starting on August 17th, #UnholyRoller will be featured on Steam with our open playtest available for all to try out. Make sure to wishlist the game to get notified when more content comes out! #indiegames #steam #gaming

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

Now that the Steam playtest for Unholy Roller is out, I can finally talk about what I’ve been working on this summer! There’s a lot I could say about every new feature and visual upgrade in this version, but I’ll just go over the highlights. 🧵1/5 #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #art #animation

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Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

The last few changes were all subtle tweaks to existing textures like the floor tiles and pin gloves. These were the last remnants of before the art style shift last year. Even if the old textures sufficed, I believe the new ones give the game that extra level of polish to feel “complete.” 🧵4/5

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

Now that the Steam playtest for Unholy Roller is out, I can finally talk about what I’ve been working on this summer! There’s a lot I could say about every new feature and visual upgrade in this version, but I’ll just go over the highlights. 🧵1/5 #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #art #animation

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

First up is the Brawler boss fight. Up until now, most of the game’s animation was handled in-engine with keyframes or with simple sprite swaps. The Brawler definitely tested my animation skills with several fully-rendered frames, including my first attempt at smear frames. 🧵2/5

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

Another big addition was the dummy pin; it’s actually been in the game for a while now, just without its own unique texture. Its design is based on video game training dummies and ragdolls. I absolutely love how it turned out and really want a plushie of it on my desk! 🧵3/5

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

Had a lot of fun making the level decorations for this update, go give it a try! :)

Unholy Roller@unholyrollergame.bsky.social

The first official demo of Unholy Roller is out now on Itch! If you played the game at #PAXEast last week, this is that demo! It adds a TON of new stuff from the past few months of development Read more about it in our devlog: speakerbeak.itch.io/unholy-rolle... #gamedev #indiegame #indiedev

speakerbeak.itch.ioUnholy Roller Itch Demo v1.0 ReleasedWhat's up Rollers? Long time no update...But this one's BIG! Here's an overview of the changes: Grades & Scoring Grades are now based entirely on score Meeting certain health, time, and combo criteria...

Joshua Ward reposted

DIE SOFT
@diesoft.games

I just released my first ever game on Steam! If a hand-animated love-letter to your favorite NES platformers all packaged up into a modern metroidvania sounds like your thing, it's only $17.99 rn with the launch discount!

Joshua Ward reposted

Unholy Roller
@unholyrollergame.bsky.social

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! 🎳 Team UHR alongside RIT MAGIC Spell Studios will be exhibiting at #PAXEast in Boston! Find us at booth 20084 from March 26th-29th for a hands-on look at our current demo. Hope to see you there! #gamedev #indiegame #indiedev

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

As the fall semester comes to a close, I wanted to highlight one of the things I’m most proud of about Unholy Roller. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at designing our new menus and UI! (1/6) #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame

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Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

Instead of trying to inject personality into a functional layout, I found success by creating eye-catching visuals and gradually dialing it back to make it functional. Lifting the constraints I placed on myself gave me way more creative freedom than I originally had. (5/6)

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

As the fall semester comes to a close, I wanted to highlight one of the things I’m most proud of about Unholy Roller. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at designing our new menus and UI! (1/6) #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame

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Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

About a month later, I went back to the drawing board and collected a bunch of new references, including 90s and 2000s cartoons. I made a layout I was happy with, but the design still wasn’t quite there. It was missing that energetic feeling I couldn’t seem to replicate. (3/6)

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

Trying to push myself further, I made a completely wacky layout that covered the entire screen with intense shapes and colors. After a few iterations, I was genuinely shocked how cool and fun it looked. This style later became the foundation for Unholy Roller’s branding and visual design. (4/6)

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

As the fall semester comes to a close, I wanted to highlight one of the things I’m most proud of about Unholy Roller. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at designing our new menus and UI! (1/6) #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

The first pass began in mid-September and reflected my usual design style: clean, neat, and organized. But this style didn’t mesh well with the loud, chaotic nature of Unholy Roller. I really struggled to break out of my comfort zone, so I decided to take a break and put the task on hold. (2/6)

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

Unholy Roller v0.9.0 recently released with a bunch of new features! I thought it would be cool to give a behind-the-scenes look at our most recent enemy: the Burner! (1/4)

Unholy Roller@unholyrollergame.bsky.social

We just released a new build of Unholy Roller on our itch page speakerbeak.itch.io/unholy-roller! You can play v0.9.0 on Web or Desktop and enjoy a bunch of new features, including: a fifth level, a red-hot enemy, and some crazy new scoring mechanics! #GameDev #IndieGame #Godot #Speedrunning

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Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

I struggled with the design at first because, unlike a standard tenpin, candlepins have a band around their center instead of the top. This made the face placement look weird, so I experimented with a bandana covering the Burner’s eyes. That bandana eventually became a Cyclops-esque visor. (3/4)

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

Unholy Roller v0.9.0 recently released with a bunch of new features! I thought it would be cool to give a behind-the-scenes look at our most recent enemy: the Burner! (1/4)

Unholy Roller@unholyrollergame.bsky.social

We just released a new build of Unholy Roller on our itch page speakerbeak.itch.io/unholy-roller! You can play v0.9.0 on Web or Desktop and enjoy a bunch of new features, including: a fifth level, a red-hot enemy, and some crazy new scoring mechanics! #GameDev #IndieGame #Godot #Speedrunning

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

We wanted to reference a real-life candlepin that also used a fire attack, and after prototyping all three ideas we had, we decided on what I called the “martyr” option: the Burner lights itself on fire and runs around leaving a fire trail behind it. (2/4)

Joshua Ward
@jdoubleu.dev

It's me! Really happy to be working on this project, stay tuned for some cool stuff

Unholy Roller@unholyrollergame.bsky.social

#MeetTheTeam behind Unholy Roller! (2/5) Next up is Joshua, our lead artist and visual designer! He draws (almost) all of the game's custom art and guides its look and feel. #GameDev #IndieGame #Godot

Joshua Ward reposted

Unholy Roller
@unholyrollergame.bsky.social

You've arrived at the BlueSky account for UNHOLY ROLLER, a blood-pumping, bowling-themed dungeon crawler where your only weapon is YOU! Master handcrafted levels and bowl through the hordes of sentient pins that guard the tyrannical Kingpin. Stay tuned for updates and devlogs! #GameDev #IndieGame

Joshua Ward reposted

Rohit Crasta
@rsc390.bsky.social

This weekend #RocGameDev, RIT MAGIC, and RIT IGM are teaming up to host #globalgamejam! If you're interested in joining our local site, there are a few spots left! Learn more and register here: globalgamejam.org/jam-sites/20... #ROCTHEJAM #ggj2025

globalgamejam.orgRoc The Jam | Global Game JamROC THE JAM welcomes artists, musicians, developers and game makers from the Rochester area. Come by yourself and find others to work with, or come with a team ready to ROC(K). Located at MAGIC Spell ...

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