Roll7

Rollerdrome started as a jam prototype with one strong idea. Paul Rabbitte made The Roller Dome, a top-down twin-stick shooter on rollerskates, for the 2017 GMTK Game Jam, themed "Dual Purpose Design". Doing tricks gave ammo for shooting, a link he called a natural fit after other movement-shooter ideas felt forced.

The entry was fiddly and crazy hard, but the core idea held. Rabbitte was a freelance dev making solo projects and jam games in his spare time.

Viral GIFs of a 3D remake brought publishers and then Roll7. Rabbitte remade the game in 3D and shared GIFs on Twitter that went viral. Publisher interest led him to Roll7, the OlliOlli studio, which gave him a team of artists and designers to build the full game.

The lesson drawn is to treat a jam entry as a seed and rebuild it for release: "a game jam game is usually just the kernel of an idea. A seed." Superhot, Titan Souls, Baba Is You and Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes also began in jams.

A literal mix of two genres made two games fight for attention. The first version kept most features of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and DOOM 2016, and it was an overwhelming mess because the player had too much to think about at once.

Features like bailing suit Tony Hawk's, where you only think about skating, but not a game where you also have to shoot.

Roll7 cut features on both sides so players think about one thing at a time. Movement became automatic, bailing and the grind balancing mini-game were removed, ammo was shared, early weapons auto-aim and most enemies stay put. Quarter pipes shove you back into the arena even if you aren't looking.

The team iterated until the combination felt most natural. Reflex mode adds slow motion at the touch of a button.

The intended feeling decided every cut, so difficulty moved elsewhere. Rabbitte says the aim was "this super high intensity thing". With the controls simplified, challenge came from enemy variety and hazards such as laser beams, poison puddles and stomping mech walkers, keeping the feel of a dangerous bloodsport.

Like DOOM, encounters are meant to end with your eyes watering from not blinking.

Super reflex turns the dodge from defence into attack. A dodge at the last moment before damage is a perfect dodge, and entering reflex mode right after triggers super reflex, which boosts attack power. Designer Drew says attacks that once terrified you become an asset: "I'm gonna skate into that landmine or that rocket."

It adds depth without new buttons or combos, only the existing dodge and reflex with riskier timing. Players are already going deep on the system.

The perfect dodge came from a prototype bug testers liked. Prototype testers found well-timed dodges clipped through enemies unharmed. Inspired by Bayonetta's witch time, the team rewarded that risk, choosing a bonus on the existing reflex mechanic as the easiest reward.

Skill-based challenges gate new levels, building mastery into progression. Players unlock each new level only by clearing bonus challenges, such as high score targets that demand intention and tasks that teach enemy weaknesses to certain guns and super reflex. Replaying early levels then shows the move from prey to predator.

Where you once barely survived, you now blitz your old high score. As Drew puts it, "You are whooping ass in those earlier levels, and you see how much you have progressed."