Why I'm Making a Game About the Road
I've been thinking a lot about games that happen between places.
Not the boss fights. Not the cities. Not the big cinematic moments.
The quiet stretches. The travel. The part where you're low on supplies, someone's hurt, and you're asking yourself if pushing forward is smarter than turning back.
That's where Void Merchant started.
The World Is Already Gone
Void Merchant takes place after the world has lost.
The Void has spread across the land, warping everything it touches. The only places left that resemble civilization are cities protected by massive crystals that hold the Void at bay. Inside those barriers, people trade, argue, survive, and pretend things are fine.
Outside them is the road.
You play a merchant hauling goods between these cities. You're not here to save the world. You're here to make it to the next stop without losing your wagon, your crew, or yourself.
Your wagon carries a smaller Void Crystal. Just strong enough to protect you while traveling. Just fragile enough to constantly make you nervous.
The Core Idea: The Road Is the Game
I didn't want travel to be a menu or a loading screen.
I wanted it to feel dangerous. Tense. Full of decisions that don't have clean answers.
Every journey is a question:
- Do I take the longer, safer route or cut through Void-scarred land?
- Do I push forward with injured crew or turn back and lose time and money?
- Do I risk trading with a suspicious stranger for much-needed supplies?
- Do I try to sneak past a Void beast or prepare for combat?
Void Merchant is built around that feeling of "I hope this was the right call".
You're Not a Hero, You're a Merchant
This isn't a power fantasy.
You don't scale infinitely. You don't win every fight. Sometimes the smartest move is losing a little instead of losing everything.
Combat exists, but it's not the default solution. You're a wagon and a handful of people, not an army. Winning every encounter is not expected, and honestly, trying to will probably get you killed.
The goal isn't dominance.
It's survival with consequences.
The Vibe I'm Aiming For
Tonally, I'm aiming for quiet dread, not constant horror.
Foggy roads. Distant shapes. Long silences broken by bad news. Civilization held together by glowing crystals and questionable decisions.
The Void isn't loud.
It waits.
This first post is mostly about why Void Merchant exists.
Next time, I want to get more concrete and talk about how it actually plays.