Main menu
Lantern Town
Clockwork Tower
Editor view

Inspiration

This game was inspired from the genre of metroidvania through games like Hollow Knight.

What it does

Eclipseborn is a 2D metroidvania you play in the browser. Shadows are everywhere that the light isn’t. You push crates, flip levers and switch lanterns to change where shadows fall and build your own path. Light drains your shade, then your health. You explore a cursed cottage, a lantern village with shops, and the Clockwork Tower. Boss fights include the Wickwright, a flying grandfather-clock wraith you beat by setting the tower lamps off to fight it.

How we built it

We used Godot 4.3 and GDScript, about 22,000 lines of code. The game works out shadow shapes from every light each frame and turns them into ground you can stand on. Almost all the art is drawn in code rather than image files, which lets us try many styles quickly. We export to the web and host on GitHub Pages. We built it alongside two AI coding agents that coordinated through a shared planning board in the repo.

Challenges we ran into

Turning shadows into walkable ground caused jagged edges and broken shapes. Light leaked into places it shouldn’t, and small rough spots like ladder tops and a flashing title screen took many fixes. The editors struggled with many new concepts coming in after another when trying to actually edit. With two contributors pushing to one branch, we also had to handle merge conflicts.

Accomplishments that we’re proud of

The core idea works: walk within areas not illuminated by light. We have a playable web game with a full boss fight, a consistent steampunk look, and a built-in level editor.

What we learned

We learned how to turn 2D light and shadow into physics, that small polish makes a big difference, and how to work well with AI agents by setting clear rules and reviewing options before shipping.

What’s next for Eclipseborn

New kinds of light with their own shadow rules, more zones and bosses that unlock abilities, health upgrades, and finishing the story of the Witch and the curse.