Ongoing · In development
RTBH · The Off-Duty Demon King
Aug 2026—present
A former demon king sets down his weapons to cook a meal for each guest at a late-night stall.
A personal game project about a desktop shop and the comfort of food. In a post-war fantasy city, prepare ingredients, cook and welcome regulars, discovering the stories that connect each person to a dish through their everyday return visits.
The major creative turns
From dungeon systems to an underground kitchen, then to a desktop shop and food-centred stories: the decisions that changed the direction of the project.
The dungeon experiment
Starting with reverse tower defence and a dungeon ecosystem, exploring play from the demon king’s perspective.
A turn toward the kitchen
Version 0.2 shifted the focus to cooking in an underground kitchen, driven by the demon king’s response to each dish.
Finding the emotional core
The focus moved from war to everyday life: idle shopkeeping and the comfort of food. A former demon king became a cook, as the modern fantasy city, Third Gate restaurant, regulars and staff took shape.
A desktop shop and its first regulars
Version 0.25 connected automatic service, personal attention, taste memories, returning customers and staff stories into the first night of the shop.
From managing meals to making one
Version 0.28 added free meal preparation, a four-step ochazuke interaction, phone reviews and visual ingredient baskets. Updated carts, animation and interface formed an internal playtest snapshot.
Exploring narrative and three-dimensional form
Static 3D night-market assets reached an engine display test. In parallel, a branching story, “The Last Pot, Poured Twice,” explores different farewells through the same dish.
Where the project stands
The management game has a V0.28 internal playtest snapshot and remains in development. The 3D images show static asset exploration; animation and full gameplay are not yet part of that branch. The interactive film and branching stories are parallel writing experiments.
Short development log
Static night-market characters and cart passed display tests. “The Last Pot, Poured Twice” reached a story draft with five endings and ten paths.
- V0.28
Updated the interface, cart and character animation; added hands-on ochazuke, dish reviews and stocking for the expected guest count.
Began a separate interactive-film concept, “Rain in the End Credits,” exploring food through Ludeng and a photographer’s final collaboration.
- V0.26.5
Updated the neighbourhood art direction with rounded characters, warm red food stalls, and city and park backgrounds.
- V0.25
Refined first-night service, regulars’ memories, daily return visits, Xiaomai’s story and staff meals.