Ruff Ghanor

About the game (Launched)

Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Xbox Series S/X, PS5, Nintendo Switch

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Deck builder with roguelike elements, in which the player controls the young cleric in a narrative inspired by The Legend of Ruff Ghanor, a book by Leonel Caldela released in 2014 by NerdBooks. In the plot,the protagonist is trained in the monastery of São Arnaldo to face the imminent threat of the red dragon Zamir.

Gameplay
Turn-based, single-player deckbuilder roguelite where players face sequences of combats and events inspired by the Ruff Ghanor universe. Each run, you build and refine your deck by acquiring new cards, managing resources and making narrative choices that change your strategy, enemies faced and the risks/rewards of each encounter.

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My role on the project

• Game Design - Designed and documented the card combat rules, enemy abilities and meta-progression systems, working with the programming team to keep the scope feasible.

• Narrative Design - Wrote branching dialogues and narrative events based on the original book, adapting key moments into interactive scenes while preserving the tone and characters.

• User Interface - Development of screen flow and design of low and medium fidelity mockups;

• User Experience - Planned and ran usability tests, identified UX problems in card readability and feedback.
   

Challenges and Solutions

Challenge: Adapt a book to a systemic card game. The game is based on a novel, so many elements exist only as text.
What I did: turned secondary elements from the book into mechanics (resources, events, card effects) and used “show, don’t tell” to present the lore through gameplay and choices.
 

Challenge: Make complex information readable being a card game, a lot of information had to fit in HUD and cards.
What I did: worked closely with UI and UX to simplify texts, restructure layouts and improve feedback so players could understand effects and progression at a glance.