Blood Money

Every dollar costs you blood. How far would you go to save the one you love?

The Spark

Where it all began

I’ve always loved making games, and the idea for Blood Money came out of a late-night conversation with my sister. We were joking (and then seriously debating) how far we’d go for money, what we’d risk, what we’d sacrifice, what would finally break us. That conversation stuck with me, and I realized it could be the foundation for a survival game where every choice bleeds you dry.

This was also my first time building a project completely solo at a hackathon. No teammates to fall back on, no one to split tasks , just me, Unity, and a lot of caffeine. It was a challenge that pushed me in ways I hadn’t experienced before.

All or Nothing

What is Blood Money?

Blood Money is a dark, text-based survival game where your only resources are your health and your greed. Across 5 brutal rounds, you’re forced into twisted “Would You Rather” scenarios. Each choice rewards money, but it also costs health.

The goal: earn $14,000 before your health runs out. Success is rare, failure is common , and that’s the point.

Gameplay Highlights

Setting: Minimalist UI that lets your imagination fill in the horror
Rounds: 5 escalating survival scenarios
Choices: Three options each round with different payouts and health costs
Win Condition: Reach $14,000 before dying
Theme: Survival, sacrifice, and the terrifying price of money

Google, Coffee, Repeat

How I built Blood Money

I built Blood Money solo in Unity with C#, learning as I went. I’d never attempted something like this alone, so I kept the mechanics tight and focused:

GameStats system for tracking health and money
ChoiceUI to dynamically spawn buttons for each scenario
GameFlow to control progression, win/lose states, and scene transitions
HUD showing health (top-left) and money (top-right) with real-time updates
Atmosphere added through music, UI polish, and subtle animations

Most of my “teammates” were Google, Unity docs, and YouTube tutorials, but by the end, I had a fully working survival game built entirely on my own.

Bleeding Through the Night

The challenges I faced

Working solo meant every bug, every crash, and every design decision was mine to solve. There were plenty of moments where I thought I’d bitten off too much.

Key Challenges:

Balancing payouts vs. health loss so the game feels brutal but fair
Creating escalating tension in only 5 rounds
Managing scope — resisting the urge to overbuild when time was limited
Debugging Unity scenes and UI while running on no sleep

The Peak

What I’m proud of

Building a complete, finished game loop entirely solo in a weekend
Designing mechanics that make players feel every choice has weight
Keeping the scope small but delivering a polished, atmospheric experience
Turning a casual sibling conversation into a survival game people can actually play

Midnight Lessons

What I learned

Solo projects are tough but rewarding. I had to wear every hat: developer, designer, tester, storyteller.
Scope is everything. Cutting back on features let me actually finish.
Atmosphere matters more than complexity. Even with simple mechanics, the theme made the game feel intense.

Most importantly: if you’re not having fun making the game, the player won’t have fun playing it. Once I leaned into the weird, dark idea that excited me, everything clicked.