Devlog #1. It's undead. First Sly Crow Gameplay Video

Zombies have taken over the world. Well, at least parts of it.

But don’t panic — this isn’t your typical end-of-the-world scenario. No bleak, gray wastelands or gritty survival tales here. Picture a vivid, whimsical world where zombies and humans have found a way to coexist. They farm, they trade, they bicker, they laugh… and occasionally, they lose their brains (literally).

Hi! My name is Vladimir Filonov and that’s the setting I’m bringing to life.

Sly Crow is a 2D point-and-click adventure starring Zoti, a mischievous zombie farm girl, her headstrong goose companion, and a sly crow antagonist.

At its core, this game is about friendship, unexpected kindness, and the belief that the world isn’t just black and white - even when it’s filled with zombies and shady crows.

I thought it was the scariest moment when I announced that I'm working on a game. Ha! Far from it... Now I'm more scared to reveal current gameplay to the public. Because I know it's not pretty, even clumsily and somewhere buggy (obviously 😅). But as the saying goes: “he that fears every bush must never go a-birding.”

So here it is - my very first gameplay demo. Drafty, raw, a bit broken… but alive. And honestly, that’s what matters most right now.

Mini-game is unbalanced, has no frame, and has an annoying bug: the rope with a magnet sometimes gets stuck on an invisible collider… I’m guessing it’s bumping into the player’s or hole's bounding box instead of ignoring them.

The UI is straight out of Adventure Creator’s default template. Definitely not how it will look, but for now I’m keeping it as-is until I know exactly what I need.

But here’s the cool part: bugs aside, the whole first scene in Zoti’s house is actually playable! That moment when you can click around, see things moving, and it feels like a game - that’s pure magic.

Art Direction

Visual style for Sly Crow is not finalized yet. I’m aiming for a unique blend of hand-painted textures with modern animation techniques to create a world that feels alive. Now I’m somewhere in-between of three options: watercolor, pastel and colored pencils.

Gameplay Mechanics

On the gameplay development front, I’ve been prototyping the core mechanics that will define the Sly Crow experience:

- Interactive inventory: Collect, examine, and combine various items to get through the obstacles Zoti is facing.

- Mini-games: Solve puzzles and arcade mini-games to get required items and get rid of disadvantages.

- Goose sidekick: I’m experimenting with the unique abilities of the sidekick to help Zoti progress through the game

Technical Progress

On the technical side, I have some progress as well:

- Finished the first scene with draft art
- Implement first (unbalanced yet) mini-game

What’s Next

In the coming weeks, I’ll be focusing on:

1. Make final art style decision
2. Re-rig main character animation
3. Drafting some more NPCs art
4. Build the first trailer

I’ll share more about this first scene and the mini-game soon. For now… it’s undead 🧟‍♀️✨