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GoedWare Game Jam 2026 · Boss battle

Return of Theseus

A retro boss battle where you play the Minotaur. Theseus keeps coming back: every time he loses, he lowers the difficulty, skips the dialogue and tries again. I made all of the art, and my teammate Banana did the programming and dialogue.

Role
Art, 3D models, animation, VFX, UI, music
Team
2 people
Year
May 2026
Tools
Blender, Unity, FL Studio
Return of Theseus key art: a yellow-cloaked hero lunges at the Minotaur in a torch-lit stone arena

Stylised 3D pixel art

The Minotaur, Theseus and the labyrinth arena are 3D models rendered as pixel art. I made the models, materials and animation in-house so the whole game shares one look.

Top-down view of the round stone arena with torches and chained pillars
The labyrinth arena.
Theseus attacking the Minotaur, with the boss health bar at the top
Mid-fight, on Easy.

UI and combat feedback

I designed the UI, hit feedback and camera effects to keep a fast fight easy to read. The dialogue boxes, portraits and health bars share the same framed, retro style.

Dialogue box with a Minotaur portrait: So, the labyrinth spits up another lamb
The Minotaur’s dialogue.
A blue SYSTEM screen with a framed text box reading action confirmed
The SYSTEM screen.

Effects and gameplay

Shaders, particles and visual effects built to match the retro style, from sword slashes to torch fire.

Play Return of Theseus on itch.io ↗

Gameplay.
Sword slash effect test
Slash effect.
Torch fire effect on a stone pillar
Torch fire.