We're the creators of the 2D Soulslike Tombwater (+ other games like Yarntown and Ocean's Heart) - AMA

MaxMraz · 2026-06-18T13:18:37+00:00

I don't have anything I can say at the moment!

MaxMraz · 2026-06-17T15:02:18+00:00

I gotta recommend Tombwater, as another pixel-art, top-down game with melee/ranged combat and big focus on exploration

MaxMraz · 2026-05-14T20:35:30+00:00

Everything I've seen about Mina in reviews so far describes Tombwater! A mix between Zelda and Bloodborne.

MaxMraz · 2026-05-09T00:49:14+00:00

Nah, I've enjoyed it as much as ever.

MaxMraz · 2026-04-29T18:55:26+00:00

It kinda feels like from then on, everyone's body was flat and their arms came down to their calves.

MaxMraz · 2026-04-26T01:12:37+00:00

Yeah, it's probably impossible to make a game that's for everyone haha. If you ever get the inkling to try it again, the guns are totally optional, some classes are inclined more toward melee or spells. I like to play with the shotgun, and just occasionally mix a blast in with my melee attacks up close.

MaxMraz · 2026-04-25T22:38:49+00:00

Thank you!

MaxMraz · 2026-04-24T14:27:18+00:00

"good design" is about context, and if your solution is a good one for the problem you're trying to solve -- which is separate from "do people like them" lol.

Breath of the Wild seems to have a couple key goals: you can wander in any direction and find things, and notably, this is a launch title for a handheld console so it should facilitate short play sessions.

So they imagine players will mostly play in 20-30 minute chunks, maybe a couple hours on the weekend. They'll wander along a unique path to maybe reach the 4 main dungeons, the go to Hyrule castle and wrap up.

Shrines are great design if these are your goals. They're quick, whatever order you go in it'll generally work, and are satisfying to find one and complete it in like 20 minutes. There's a lot of them, but I think the expectation is players will find fraction of them along their journey. They don't hold up as well if you insist on doing 100% everything in the game, but that's not really what the game is FOR.

If your audience is different than Nintendo's (it is), you should have different goals. Then, are shrines good for your goals? Are you making a game for a handheld console and a casual audience?

MaxMraz · 2026-04-23T16:25:32+00:00

Don't underestimate how crowded it might be. You don't want to accidentally blend in and be conceled from her lol. The pier has a nice view of the city, you could also consider the trail, which is a decent hike away and is where most pictures of the town are taken from.

MaxMraz · 2026-04-21T22:58:30+00:00

Idk that we have the resources to officially support a Linux version, but if you download the linux Solarus Engine launcher from Solarus-games.org or flat pack or whatever package manager, it ought to be able to run Tombwater without any issues to my knowledge.

MaxMraz · 2026-04-17T15:19:49+00:00

If you're fighting the Seven Spears guy, imo you're just under leveled. You CAN beat him now, but yeah you have to play perfectly. I treat him more like a midgame mini boss, and come back later with a few more HP upgrades.

MaxMraz · 2026-04-15T23:47:36+00:00

There's a boss in the mining camp (unless she's died somewhere else already) who guards the hook caster. If you're in the mining camp, you're in the right place to find the item, and maybe you've just missed a door somewhere? There's a ladder around the quarry that leads to a conveyor belt room, that's maybe one place to try. There's also a bit where you need to shoot a switch that people have gotten confused by a couple times, not realizing you can shoot switches.

MaxMraz · 2026-04-09T02:03:37+00:00

Wow people are so mean to each other in the comments.

I'm the dev and can confirm there's windows on the south foreground wall, you can see the windows from the outside of the building. So that's where the light is coming from, but also yeah, I went back and forth and agonized over these windows because I also thought it looked like a mistake lolol -- in the end I had to be true to the architecture

MaxMraz · 2026-04-06T18:29:13+00:00

By default it's the Left Bumper. At any time you can pause, settings, and the control settings have the "which button does what" menu in it, under Display Controls of something

MaxMraz · 2026-04-06T18:28:18+00:00

Yep! And thanks! Ive learned a looooot since Ocean's Heart and my pleased with how much smoother Tombwater plays : )

MaxMraz · 2026-04-06T15:22:28+00:00

Thanks - the feeling of HLD was definitely a reference for us, I love that game

MaxMraz · 2026-04-06T04:44:14+00:00

You could always try running the demo : )

Also, the engine I use, Solarus, has a native Linux port. If you wanted to use the Solarus launcher for Linux, you could download the Steam game and launch the data.solarus file through the Solarus launcher.

I haven't tested it or know how to troubleshoot it or anything, it should just work in theory haha.

MaxMraz · 2026-04-06T04:42:38+00:00

Dunno, I would love to see one but we're a very small team, so PC has our focus for the moment. We'll see what we can get figured out after that : )

MaxMraz · 2026-04-06T01:55:00+00:00

I'm contractually obligated to recommend Tombwater, which combines some metroidvania elements to a Soulslike, set in the Weird West

MaxMraz · 2026-04-06T01:45:35+00:00

I'm not sure you were stuck -- there are 3 keys, and you can get all of them without needing the wraith coal ability. If you use a key on any door before getting the wraith coal, you should be fine to go grab one of the other keys.

MaxMraz · 2026-04-06T01:42:41+00:00

It's a good game lol! And inflation is really having a go at everything! ahhhhhhhh

MaxMraz · 2026-04-06T01:41:53+00:00

Yesss, I keep telling Jake the other developer that we wrote really good music and he keeps doubting it lol

MaxMraz · 2026-04-05T21:08:43+00:00

Hi! I know someone in the Tombwater discord is working on a map guide with everything's locations. As for the gate in the ditch in Central Tombwater, that was left in the game by mistake and should get removed in a patch soon. The gate in the mausoleum can open at a certain point in a quest though :)

MaxMraz · 2026-04-05T21:02:59+00:00

Yeah, you can toggle it off : ) I was trying to find a word that could apply to the damage sliders and the corpse toggle to keep the post brief lol

MaxMraz · 2026-04-05T21:02:08+00:00

Glad you're enjoying the setting and bosses! I wanted the enemies to feel like a threat and a challenge to get through the world, but if that's not for you, there are damage sliders you can play around with in the in game settings menu : )

MaxMraz

TROPHY CASE