KinPath | Daniel Velitskiy

💼 Role

Game & Level Designer Intern

📅 Timeline

May 2024 – Sep 2024

🏢 Studio

Turtle Knight Games

"Throughout his time with us, Daniel has shown dedication, creativity, and a passion for game design. His contributions have been valuable to our projects, and we believe that his skills and enthusiasm will support his future success in the industry."
— Eduard Dobermann (Game Designer and Founder of Turtle Knight Games)

Overview

🔗 Wishlist KinPath on Steam

KinPath is a multiplayer micro RPG autobattler where players lead generations of brave frogs on a journey of growth, exploration, and legacy-building.

During my internship at Turtle Knight Games, I played a key role in structuring the game's underlying math and progression. Working directly with the core design team, my primary focus was designing the core progression loop and building out the foundational spreadsheets to balance character classes, enemy stats, and the in-game economy. In addition to KinPath, I was also trusted to conceptualize mechanics and develop paper prototypes for two other unannounced roguelike projects.

My Responsibilities & Impact

Core Loop & Progression Design: I helped design and structure the overarching gameplay loop for KinPath. I developed the initial paper prototype to conceptualize the game idea and explored diverse mechanics to enrich player interactions.
Systems Balancing & Spreadsheets: To ensure fair and engaging player progression, I developed detailed balance spreadsheets. I mapped out the mathematical scaling for character stats, enemy health/damage, and item economies to keep the autobattler combat challenging but rewarding.
Arena Design & Game Modes: I conceptualized and designed the post-journey arena phase. To keep the endgame highly replayable, I developed multiple distinct game modes with varying rulesets and win conditions.
Level Design & Documentation: I designed test level layouts to enhance the gameplay experience and took ownership of creating and maintaining the central Game Design Documentation (GDD).
Rapid Prototyping (Unannounced Projects): Beyond KinPath, I actively explored game ideas for two unannounced roguelike prototypes (a jelly-based roguelike and a physics-based sword roguelike). I conceptualized core mechanics, designed weapon attachments and boss encounters, and planned level structures to ensure cohesive progression.

Development Deep Dive

1. Designing the Generational Loop

The Challenge: The game requires players to plan an adventure across multiple generations of characters, meaning progression needed to feel meaningful both in the short term (one run) and the long term (the family legacy).
The Execution: I focused heavily on balancing the distribution of treasures, resources, and skill unlocks so that even if a player's current frog fell to a mysterious foe, the overall legacy progression felt satisfying and fair.

2. Balancing the Autobattler Economy

The Process: Because autobattlers rely heavily on under-the-hood math, I built extensive foundational spreadsheets to track stat scaling. I mapped out the mathematical scaling for character stats, enemy health/damage, and item economies to ensure the difficulty curve felt rewarding as players progressed through different zones.

3. Designing Dynamic Final Arenas

The Challenge: After the player completes their generational journey across the map, they are transferred into a multiplayer arena. Having the exact same standard fight at the end of every successful run would quickly make the endgame feel stale and repetitive.
The Execution: To solve this, I designed multiple arena types with completely different rules and conditions. Depending on the run, players might be thrown into a chaotic Free-for-All where they fight each other, or they might suddenly have to team up to defeat a massive cooperative boss. This variety forced players to build their frogs not just for the journey, but for unpredictable endgame scenarios.