Independent game studio
Quiet games about care, mercy and home
Mercy Noise is an independent game studio. We make small games about quiet, warm things — and build them in the open, day by day, update by update.
Games
What we are building right now
Team
A small studio with big plans
Kirill PodmaryovArtist & designer
Devlog
A living development diary — updates, decisions, discoveries
Jun 11, 2026
2 days ago- Kirill PodmaryovArtist & designer·ArtShush, Little Spirit!
First hand-drawn floor — apt. 47
Drew the first floor — apartment 47. A fully hand-drawn room that the whole scene and furniture layout are built upon.
- Vitaly WeberVisionary·DesignShush, Little Spirit!
Mechanics prototype and a length simulator
Built a separate HTML sandbox to feel all 12 levels, and wrote a Python simulator that honestly measures playthrough length. The numbers showed the game was too short. Rebuilt the progression and picked Scope B — a single short cozy story of ~1.1 hours: one night, 24 apartments, the spirit descending from roof to ground.
Jun 7, 2026
6 days ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·DesignGDD v1.4Mercywave
Onboarding and economy
Playtests showed newcomers couldn't clear even level one. Added a 5-level progression (one enemy/type at a time), removed the passive tick, added per-level damage ramping, and made L5 a real wall. The simulator confirmed the curve.
Jun 5, 2026
8 days ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·TechGDD v1.2Mercywave
Monte-Carlo Light-economy sim
Built a Light-economy simulator (~4000 runs per config) — data instead of feelings. Diagnosis: the core was too forgiving. Added a “challenge pack” and replaced the confusing passive drain with “corruption drains Light”, with clear telegraphs.
Jun 4, 2026
9 days ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·DesignGDD v1.1Mercywave
Detailed balance
A big balance table: enemy stats, Light economy, cascade thresholds. The key fix — Light is now spent only on hit (cost-on-hit), not on misses. Reworked “Denial” from a dead end into a positional threat.
Jun 3, 2026
10 days ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·DesignMercywave
The roguelike challenge problem
Admitted it: the mechanic is great, but the challenge failed — the healing cascade is positive feedback that drains tension. Introduced “4 pillars of difficulty” to bring the pressure back.
Jun 2, 2026
11 days ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·DesignGDD v0.9Mercywave
Narrative and the switch to top-down
A narrative flip: dark damage is suppressing feelings, healing is acceptance. The heroine is Aurora, a ballerina; the game world is her inner world. Switched to a 2D top-down twin-stick roguelite so the healing cascade reads from above, and built a graybox prototype.
- Kirill PodmaryovArtist & designer·ArtShush, Little Spirit!
Cat: directional animations
Drew the cat 4 animation sheets — idle, front, back and side — so it moves believably in every direction.
Jun 1, 2026
12 days ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·MilestoneGDD v0.1Mercywave
Start: genre and concept
Analyzed a SteamDB dump to pick a solo-viable genre, and the core idea was born: a princess who “shoots kindness” — healing enemies at the cost of her own Light. Light = ammo = life. GDD started.
May 28, 2026
16 days ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·MilestoneShush, Little Spirit!
GitHub and 12 unique cats
Set up the repo and decided to drop the lazy “1 cat → 2 → 3” progression. Designed 12 unique cats with personalities and stats, plus a different task on every floor.
May 27, 2026
17 days ago- Kirill PodmaryovArtist & designer·ArtShush, Little Spirit!
New spirit sprite
Drew a new mustached spirit — more compact and proportional than the old one, with a smooth hover animation. Tuned the frames to match the game's style.
May 24, 2026
20 days ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·MilestoneShush, Little Spirit!
First playable prototype
Recorded the first prototype run straight from the Godot editor — on free, placeholder sprites. The spirit walks the apartment, the cat reacts, the splash screen and a basic HUD work. You can already feel how it will play.
- Vitaly WeberVisionary·FixShush, Little Spirit!
Fixing Godot typing
The game wouldn't launch due to strict typing (weakref returned Variant). Removed weakref, swept similar spots and added explicit types — the build is green again.
May 18, 2026
26 days ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·DesignShush, Little Spirit!
Reworking the core mechanics
Realized several systems were broken: cleaning traces was annoying, a waypoint cat felt lifeless, the suspicion meter kept you anxious 24/7. Reworked it: traces became a tactical resource, the cat reacts to sound and light, suspicion only rises when the cat steps on a trace. Added three levels of rising difficulty.
May 15, 2026
29 days ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·MilestoneShush, Little Spirit!
New name: Shush, Little Spirit!
Renamed the project to “Shush, Little Spirit!” — it sounds like a children's fairy tale and sets the tone instantly.
May 8, 2026
1 month ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·TechShush, Little Spirit!
Godot, assets, first scene
Picked Godot 4 and a pixel interior tileset. Set up autoloads, built the first room from code and placed furniture. Fixed the first visual bugs — floor stripes and the room background.
May 3, 2026
1 month ago- Vitaly WeberVisionary·MilestoneShush, Little Spirit!
Concept & name
The core idea: you're a house spirit doing good deeds at night, leaving traces you must clean up before dawn. A curious cat isn't an enemy, but sees everything. Genre: cozy reverse-stealth. First GDD written.