The Journey of Crafting a Liminal Space Game

From Game Jam to Steam Release

What began as a three-day game jam has quickly grown into a full-fledged project with a clear vision and an energized community. In just two weeks, our team has taken an experimental prototype and transformed it into the foundation of a game we’re preparing for Steam Next Fest this October.

From Jam to Steam Page

The prototype launched with both a demo and a Steam page—and the response exceeded our expectations. Players connected with the eerie office-space atmosphere and wanted to see more. To build on that momentum, we’ve been live-streaming development every morning at 9 AM PST, sharing not just progress but also the problem-solving, pivots, and creative experiments along the way.

Building the Foundation

The original jam featured a straightforward “AI drone chase” mechanic. Since then, we’ve pivoted toward something more atmospheric: a walking-simulator experience that draws on the unease of liminal spaces. At its core is a procedural generation system that creates sprawling office layouts—endless corridors and rooms designed to make players feel both lost and curious.

Into this maze we began layering anomalies—spaces that don’t belong, surreal rooms that disrupt the office logic. Each anomaly introduces a moment of surprise and unease, and we’ve built a UI layer that lets players interact with these spaces in unexpected ways.

Refining the Experience

One of the most important design changes came when we moved away from a “find the keycard” mechanic. Instead, anomaly rooms now center on a desk where players can choose to “contain” the anomaly or continue exploring. This shift emphasizes curiosity and agency over simple progression.

Teleportation logic now allows seamless movement between the mundane office world and the bizarre anomaly rooms, no matter their size or shape. Alongside this, the UI gained polish with animations, sound design, and a foreboding PC-interface aesthetic that deepens immersion.

Localization and accessibility features are also in place, laying the groundwork for broader reach. Thanks to AI-assisted workflows, we can translate quickly while still keeping room for human polish.

Streamlining Production

Behind the scenes, we’ve developed a production pipeline that lets us move from concept to in-game content rapidly. A single screenshot from an asset pack becomes the seed: we run it through AI for previs, generate shaders with AI assistance, and then drop it directly into Unreal’s procedural generation system. This approach makes it possible to prototype and ship new rooms in hours instead of days.

What’s Next

With systems in place, the next focus is content: creating a wide variety of office environments and anomaly rooms that reinforce the game’s unsettling tone. The goal is a polished demo ready for Steam Next Fest this October.

If you’d like to see the process unfold in real time, join our streams Monday through Thursday at 9 AM PST. We’ll share another update soon as the demo takes shape.