Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

EP: A Year of UFO 50 - Rakshasa

Jun 13, 2025
Join Tonda Ros, a game developer known for Blueprint and Mythic Spoiler, alongside doseone, a musician behind the soundtracks of Enter the Gungeon and Samurai Gunn. They dive into the intriguing world of Rakshasa, discussing its unique mechanics and the emotional depth of gameplay where even death can't halt your fight against demons. The duo also shares personal journeys in gaming and creativity, highlights from their childhood, and the importance of community in gaming. Plus, they explore the nostalgic design elements reminiscent of classic NES games.
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ANECDOTE

Doseone's Indie Game Journey

  • Doseone shared his journey from battle rapper to indie game sound designer, working on notable games like Enter the Gungeon and Samurai Gunn 2.
  • He praised the game's ingenuity, calling Rakshasa a "greatest game jam achievement ever."
INSIGHT

Unique Death and Difficulty System

  • Rakshasa is a brutally difficult platformer where death doesn’t cost lives but accumulates skulls that increase difficulty.
  • Every hit kills instantly, but players have unlimited retries, highlighting punishment and perseverance.
INSIGHT

Dynamic Difficulty Inversion

  • Rakshasa’s difficulty dynamically scales based on player deaths, increasing enemy numbers the more skulls the player has.
  • This inverted rank system subtly punishes failure by making progress harder, but it’s easy to overlook.
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