Len Allwood Design & Motion

マルチメディアデザインデジタルの動きをデザインする

Spirit Chain

Independent 2D Game · Godot

Spirit Chain

I’m making a game about building a chain of spirits, keeping them alive and trying not to make a complete mess of it. Spirit Chain brings together everything I like doing: drawing characters, animating them, designing systems and then making the whole thing actually work in Godot.

Project
Independent 2D Game
Role
Game design, art, animation & development
Engine
Godot
Timeline
2026–Present
Spirit Chain gameplay showing the player, linked spirits and the active level
Current buildConsiderably more frogs than when I started.

Concept

One button. A growing chain. Several increasingly bad things trying to stop you.

01 · Core idea

Hold to grow the chain

Hold to add spirits. Let go to stop. That simple rule became the thing I built the rest of the game around. Spawn points move, enemies interfere and a nice orderly chain can become chaos surprisingly quickly.

FormatOriginal 2D game
Core systemChain-of-spirits mechanic
Built inGodot
PLAY MEEarly browser prototype
Just hold to play.Pick a level. Hold to grow the chain. Let go before trouble catches up. Then try another level.
Where it startedThis rough little HTML experiment is where the core mechanic started.

From sketchbook to Spirit Chain

Spirit Chain starts in a sketchbook. I love drawing to think, test characters and plan a natural world worth protecting.

Spirit Chain sketchbook planning mechanics, enemies and environment ideas Spirit Chain sketchbook studies of frog characters, flags and enemies Spirit Chain sketches exploring enemies, frogs and plant life Spirit Chain sketchbook studies for creatures and nature worldbuilding
Sketchbook / Planning the worldThese drawings help shape movement, enemies, environments and the tone of the game before anything becomes pixels.
WalkFollower frog walk sprite sequence
RunFollower frog run sprite sequence
DodgeFollower frog dodge sprite sequence
Bring your friendsThe red follower uses simpler shared states so a crowded chain stays readable.

Animation & Player Feedback

If the player has to stop and decode an animation, I’ve already lost.

03 · Game feel

I built each state to answer something quickly: which way am I going, who am I controlling and is something terrible about to happen?

FrontFront-facing red follower walking frames
SideSide-facing frog walking frames
BackRear-facing frog walking frames
Blue lead frog release transition into follower state
Passing the batonRelease the chain and the lead frog hands the job over. A dedicated transition makes the lead-to-follower change clear.
Spirit Chain gameplay showing warning states, the blue lead frog and the moving chain
Trouble incomingEnemy pressure, warnings and the blue leader need to make sense while everything is moving.

Environments / Level Design

Nature is not just the backdrop. It is what the player is here to protect.

Animated 2D pixel nature environment for Spirit Chain
A world worth savingSpirit Chain is built around protecting nature. The environments will grow into rich 2D pixel landscapes, plant life and a world that feels worth caring about.
Spirit Chain enemy artwork
Things with bad intentionsPinceoid and Shoefly came out of the sketchbook with one clear job: annoy the frogs.
Spirit Chain level in play with the route, spirits and interface
Everybody inThe route, characters, enemies and UI all have to share the same screen without starting an argument.

UI & Game Feel

Enough information to help. Not enough to require a manual.

Spirit Chain gameplay showing score, spirit count, warnings and the active chain
Keep one eye on the frogsSpirit count, score and warnings sit around the edges so the HUD helps without taking over.
Spirit Chain route and chain mechanic guide
Under the hoodSpawn points, route positions and chain state turn the simple hold mechanic into a working system.
Spirit Chain launch screen interface
Same idea, fewer frogsThe linked-ring motif carries the core mechanic into the menus.
06 · From Artwork to Godot

Draw it. Animate it. Break it. Fix it.

My favourite part is that nothing stays theoretical for long. I draw it, turn it into sprites, put it in Godot and find out whether it was actually a good idea.

01Draw it

Get the idea out of my head.

02Move it

Turn the drawing into readable sprite animation.

03Build it

Put it in Godot and give it a job.

04Break it

Playtest until I find what needs fixing.

Spirit Chain workflow from source artwork and blue lead frog states into Godot
Sketchbook to screenThe route from drawing a frog to arguing with a frog in Godot.
07 · Gameplay / Current Build

Now there are a lot of frogs.

The current build is where the directional states, lead/follower logic, spawn points, enemies and UI all behave together. Usually.

Spirit Chain gameplay with a nearly full route of follower frogs and the blue lead frog
Almost thereA nearly complete loop, a lot of followers and several opportunities for something to go wrong.
Spirit Chain gameplay showing a more open chain state
Room to breatheEarlier in the loop there is space to read the route, plan ahead and briefly enjoy the calm.
Conclusion

I started Spirit Chain because I wanted to make a game, not just design one.

It gives me somewhere to draw, animate, design systems, build UI and then put all of it under pressure in Godot. It’s still growing, which means the frogs are still causing problems. Good.