Lone Keep.
A pixel art roguelite about defending one tower, alone.
- Client
- Pixelantic Originals
- Platform
- iOS, Android, Steam
- Timeline
- 11 months
- Year
- 2025
- downloads
- 3.4M
- average session
- 27 min
- in Strategy at launch
- #3
Our first self-published game. A tower that is rebuilt every night, and a keeper who wakes up a little stronger every morning. Art, music, balancing and live events were all made in-house.
The challenge
We wanted a roguelite that fits in a commute without feeling like a smaller game. That meant runs under half an hour, controls that work with one thumb, and enough depth that the fiftieth night still plays differently from the first.
What we did
We prototyped the core loop in three weeks and playtested it for three months before committing to art. Every enemy, tile and effect is drawn on a 16-pixel grid with a twenty-colour palette, which kept the look consistent and the build small. Balancing runs on telemetry from every night survived.
The outcome
Lone Keep reached number three in Strategy in its home market and has been downloaded 3.4 million times. Seasonal events still ship every six weeks.
Scope
- Game design
- Pixel art and animation
- Unity
- LiveOps
Colour palette
- #141A33
- #6F7594
- #7BD66B
- #FFC94A
- #E01E08
What made the difference.
- 01
One thumb, full depth
Drag to aim, release to fire. Everything else is a choice you make between nights.
- 02
Twenty colours, no exceptions
A fixed palette across characters, tiles and interface keeps every screenshot recognisably ours.
- 03
Tuned by the numbers
Session data feeds weekly balance patches, so no single build dominates for long.
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