Devlog #4: Syloria is starting to feel like a real game

The last couple of weeks have been less about adding more features to Syloria and more about making everything that is already there feel connected.

One of the biggest changes has been the way Frontiers work. Originally, each Frontier was tied quite closely to one part of self-improvement, but that started to feel restrictive. The new system is much closer to what I wanted Syloria to be from the beginning.

Your steps now physically move you through a Frontier. As you travel, you come across encounters that block your path and you decide how to overcome them. You might use Strength by completing a workout, or Wisdom by reading. Once you’ve overcome the encounter, your journey continues, including any steps you logged while the path was blocked.

I’ve been testing the first journey through Stonewild Bastion and it’s probably the first time I’ve looked at Syloria and thought, this actually feels like a game now, rather than an app with RPG elements layered over the top.

I’ve also spent a lot of time improving the first few minutes of the experience. Character selection has been completely redesigned so your hero is now properly introduced into the world, and I’ve added a new female character alongside the existing male character. You aren’t asked to choose a gender, you simply choose the appearance you want and begin your journey.

The three disciplines have also had a visual upgrade. I commissioned hand-drawn symbols for Strength, Wisdom and Adventure, which are now being introduced throughout the app. Strength has its sword, Wisdom its moon and stars, and Adventure its mountains. It’s a relatively small change, but having a consistent visual identity for each discipline has made the whole app feel much more like Syloria.

Strength itself has changed quite a bit too. When you start, you can now decide whether you want Syloria to guide your training or whether you already know how you like to work out. If you want guidance, Syloria keeps a workout ready for you. If you don’t, you can use your own workouts instead. I wanted to give people structure without forcing everyone to train in exactly the same way.

Behind all of this, I’ve also been working on the Chronicle, which turns what you’ve actually done each week into part of your character’s story, as well as continuing to build out Lumen, discoveries and the wider mystery behind the world.

There is still a lot I want to add, but I’m deliberately trying not to disappear into an endless list of features before anyone gets to play it. The next important step is getting Syloria into people’s hands and finding out whether the ideas that sound good on paper actually make someone want to walk a little further, finish another chapter or get their workout done.

That’s the bit I’m most excited to find out.