Starforged Legacy

Starforged Legacy is a top-down sci-fi bullet-hell roguelike from Second Shift Games. It launched in Steam Early Access on June 1, 2026, after two years of development, and I lead the team of game designers working on it. You discover powerful weapon and augment combinations, battle through enemy swarms, and choose your route through a changing galaxy to destroy the enemy flagship.

What's in it

• 12 ships across three classes: frigates, cruisers, and battleships
• 20 core weapons and 250+ augments to combine into builds
• 30+ narrative events along a branching route through the galaxy
• Meta progression that carries between runs

What I do on it

I work across game design and implementation on Starforged Legacy, using Unreal Engine, Blueprints, C++, and the Gameplay Ability System. My contributions span combat, enemy encounters, ship builds, progression, missions, and player interfaces. I take features from initial mechanics through implementation, playtest iteration, and polish, supported by custom tools and gameplay telemetry.

As founder and co-owner of Second Shift Games I'm effectively the game's director as well as its lead game designer, and I drive the project forward.

What I worked on

• Combat systems, enemy encounters, and drone gameplay, built with Unreal Engine, C++, Blueprints, and the Gameplay Ability System
• Balancing ship identities, augments, skill trees, progression, rewards, and shop economies through iterative playtesting
• Mission systems, branching narrative events, and player interfaces with controller support and Steam Deck readability improvements
• Development tools, automated gameplay benchmarks, and telemetry for balancing, performance analysis, and bug investigation

Description and screenshots from the Steam store page.