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Hadrosaurus Software
@hadrosaurus.net
120 followers 89 following 34 posts
Indie game devs making retro and retro-inspired games!

The Aching • Enigma Heart • In Silence Waits

hadrosaurus.net
hadrosoft.itch.io
patreon.com/hadrosoft

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Banner art by @pepperly.art
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hadrosaurus.net
Most of the work on Enigma Heart for the past few weeks has been building environments and writing scripts for the end of the first act. We're getting close!

➡️ store.steampowered.com/app/2986980/...

➡️ hadrosoft.itch.io/enigma-heart

#GameDev #IndieGame #IndieDev #PixelArt #EnigmaHeart
A screenshot of Enigma Heart: a pixel art scene of a room in a medieval-style house with timber framing an walls that are gray brick at the base before transitioning to lavender plaster. There is a table with a sword and shield on it, a bookshelf, a bed flanked by two nightstands, a fireplace, and a table with a bowl of fruit on it, along with firewood in piles near the fireplace. Zalia, the heroine of the game: a dark-skinned woman with a purple streak in her hair and wearing purple, white, and teal, stands in the middle of the room. On the nightstand is a portrait of Esme, her love interest: a woman with red hair. A status bar at the top of the screenshot shows the player's health, level, mana, and experience. A screenshot of Enigma Heart: a pixel art scene of the interior of a building made of red wood with light-colored hardwood floors. The room is a boat workshop: filled with workbenches, half-filled boats, sails, and an anchor. There's a brick fireplace against the wall, and a bed in the foreground. In the room are Gage, a man wearing a leather apron and a very bright green hat, and Zalia, the main character, a woman wearing purple and white and teal, and with a purple streak in her hair. Pixel art scene from Enigma Heart. Zalia and Priscilla are on a dock: Zalia sitting on a crate, Priscilla standing. The long tails of Priscilla's pirate-style headband are blowing in the window. Both have their backs turned to the camera. It's sunset, with the sky in shades of gold, orange, and purple, with gold and orange clouds. The lighting is low, and slightly reddish. The ocean stretches off to the horizon. A text box, indicating Zalia is speaking, reads, "This is nice." Zalia is climbing a ladder through a thin vertical tunnel deep in a dark cave. The only light in the scene is cast off by glowing mushrooms, giving the entire scene an eerie cyan glow. In the middle of the screen, a horizontal tunnel cuts across Zalia's path. There are two spinning blade discs inside the horizontal tunnel, that presumably move back and forth. Inside, as if shredded by them, is a dead goblin.
September 23, 2025 at 6:17 PM
hadrosaurus.net
You can explore places like this in our game #ScreenshotSaturday #IndieGame
Screenshot of Enigma Heart. Zalia is in a grassy field that ends at a slope leading into some water. There are typha plants in the water, poking up through the surface. In the background, the water extends to the horizon. Screenshot of Enigma Heart. It's a pixel art scene of a tavern at sunset in a village deep in a forest with mountains in the background. The inside of the tavern, which we can see through the window, is brightly lit. Zalia, our main character, a dark-skinned woman wearing teal and white and purple and with a purple streak in her hair, sits at a table, a bottle and two empty glasses in front of her. Zalia stands at the entrance of a fortress made up of greenish teal tiles. She's in a canoe in the water. A waterfall covers the entrance. Beyond the waterfall are an obelisk and two large statues of a horned figure wielding a spear. The sky outside is a brightly-colored sunset sky of blurple, orange, and gold. Zalia is climbing a ladder through a thin vertical tunnel deep in a dark cave. The only light in the scene is cast off by glowing mushrooms, giving the entire scene an eerie cyan glow. In the middle of the screen, a horizontal tunnel cuts across Zalia's path. There are two spinning blade discs inside the horizontal tunnel, that presumably move back and forth. Inside, as if shredded by them, is a dead goblin.
September 7, 2025 at 3:11 PM
hadrosaurus.net
And because there's way too much to show in one post... have some more!

➡️ store.steampowered.com/app/2986980/...
➡️ hadrosoft.itch.io/enigma-heart

#ScreenshotSaturday
Main menu of Enigma Heart. The menu has the items: Status, Magic, Inventory, Bestiary, Goodies, Load, Save, Options, Quit. The main window has an anime-style portrait of the hero Zalia, and her stats and abilities listed. The window in the bottom left shows the player's location (Danab Palace), and the time: currently at 1 hour, 0 minutes, and 22 seconds. The player is at level 6, with three lives, and is at low health and mana, presumably after a boss fight. She has attack level 3, and sorcery and defense levels 2. Pixel art scene from Enigma Heart. The player character, Zalia, stands at the end of a long dock, looking out to see. The ocean stretches out toward the horizon. Far off in the distance, beyond the horizon, are green rolling hills and a forest. A small ladder leads down from the dock into the water. A dark room in a gray stone temple, illuminated only by the boss: a horned, flaming skull that currently has its mouth open and is baring down on the player. The player is at critically low health, and the boss has three health units out of eight remaining. The player is at attack level 4, and sorcery and defense levels 2. Her clothing palette is teal and blue and yellow, indicating she has a damage-reduction spell currently in effect. A high-resolution watercolor-style illustration of a royal throne room. The room itself is dimly lit and oppressive feeling. The new king -- a tall, lanky man wearing a demonic-looking golden crown and wielding a red-bladed sword, sits alone on the throne. The only people in the throne room are armored guards, save for one peasant woman who is being denied an audience with the king. The image is surrounded by a gold frame with gold ornamental circles, and teal corner accents featuring icons such as hearts, a labrys, and crossed swords. Text underneath the image reads: The hope that Regnar would continue his father's legacy quickly gave way to oppression. Regnar enacted harsh laws and grew distant from the people.
September 6, 2025 at 8:24 PM
hadrosaurus.net
For #ScreenshotSaturday this week, a collection of scenes we've been working on recently for Enigma Heart! We're speeding toward having the demo finished and ready to play.

➡️ WISHLIST Enigma Heart today!
store.steampowered.com/app/2986980/...

Also on itch: hadrosoft.itch.io/enigma-heart
Enigma Heart's title screen, showing a pixel art scene of Esme standing on a grassy cliff looking out over the ocean at night. Moonlight shimmers on the surface of the water as stars twinkle in the sky. The Enigma Heart logo is in the middle of the screen. Screenshot of Enigma Heart. Zalia is in a grassy field that ends at a slope leading into some water. There are typha plants in the water, poking up through the surface. In the background, the water extends to the horizon. A high-resolution watercolor-style illustration of a crowd of people gathered in a royal throne room. The room itself is awash in warm, inviting yellow light. The mood of the crowd appears jovial and social. One spear-wielding guard is giving a welcoming gesture to a woman with two children, inviting them in to visit the king. One member of the crowd is holding a dog. One woman in particular is speaking enthusiastically with the king, who appears to be listening intently. The image is surrounded by a gold frame with gold ornamental circles, and teal corner accents featuring icons such as hearts, a labrys, and crossed swords. Text underneath the image reads: Once upon a time, the realm of Lufain thrived under the just rule of its noble king, Eryndor. He was beloved by his people -- yet, as does for us all, Eryndor's time came to an end. The crown passed to his son, Regnar. A pixel art scene in a village deep in the woods. In the background is a forest that extends toward a mountain range on the horizon, set against a brilliant blue sky that peeks out between the forest canopy above. A funeral procession is passing by. The main character, Zalia, is one of the pallbearers. Behind the coffin is a line of people, led by the widow, dressed in black and wearing a veil, and crying into her hands.
September 6, 2025 at 8:24 PM
hadrosaurus.net
Development of the story and main adventure in Enigma Heart is proceeding! The scripting engine is robust and featureful (is that a word?!) and there's real progression starting to happen from the player's end!

#ScreenshotSaturday #EnigmaHeart
Pixel art scene from Enigma Heart, showing Zalia taking point as she escorts Remont, his horses, and their wagon full of grain through a forest.
July 26, 2025 at 7:15 PM
hadrosaurus.net
Hey, camera guy? Wanna join us down on the ground? We've got three shots to get through today and we're losing light.

#GameDev #PixelArt #EnigmaHeart
Screenshot of Enigma Heart, but I've goofed up the camera and we're looking up into the sky (which ends abruptly into black about two thirds of the way up the screen)
July 22, 2025 at 5:27 PM
hadrosaurus.net
Subtlety? What's that? Beats me; I don't do subtext! 🏳️‍🌈

---

➡️ Ever wished Zelda II were (even more) gay?
Wishlist Enigma Heart!
www.hadrosaurus.net/enigma-heart/
store.steampowered.com/app/2986980/...
A screenshot of Enigma Heart. The player is in The Purple Labrys, a central location in the game. The wall is adorned with banners bearing the purple labrys crest. One picture frame in particular contains a large, hard-to-miss lesbian pride flag. Screenshot of Enigma Heart. The scene is in Zalia's room in The Purple Labrys. Zalia (identified as question marks in her dialogue box because we don't know her name yet) is looking at Esme, who's sitting beside her bed in a chair. Zalia says: "I... Um. No. My first and only memory is waking up here, looking up into your..." Zalia is looking straight ahead, silent, but blushing profusely.
July 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
hadrosaurus.net
A little bug in a script: that thing on the bar is supposed to be a bowl of soup. Instead, Esme served Zalia a slice of foothills.

#ScreenshotSaturday #GameDev #EnigmaHeart #PixelArt
Pixel art scene of a medieval tavern. Esme and Zalia, two main characters of our game Enigma Heart, are standing on opposite sides of the bar. In between them, as if at a place setting, is a pale green square with some very nice dithering. (It's a grass tile)
July 5, 2025 at 2:39 PM
hadrosaurus.net
In Enigma Heart, you begin the story as a wanderer, traveling from place to place. Why? We don't know. After an encounter in the woods with some monsters, you've lost your memory.

The cool part? You can wishlist it on #Steam right now!

store.steampowered.com/app/2986980/...

#ScreenshotSaturday
A pixel art scene of a grassy field, with a dense wood at the horizon along with the crumbled ruins of a stone tower nearby. A river runs through the field. Zalia, the protagonist, walks toward the camera, along the bank of the river. Zalia walks, tightrope-style, on a fallen tree which acts as a bridge between two grass-covered rocky cliffs. Bare-limbed trees line both cliffs. We're very, very high up, as the trees below appear quite small. A bit more of a serene scene. Zalia, her back to us, sits in the grass at the shore of a lake. Her sword and shield sit in the grass near her. The lake surface is as flat and calm as a mill pond. The sun is low in the sky, probably setting. The mountains in the background reflect off the lake's surface, and the low-hanging sun shimmers on the water. A side-scrolling scene more typical of the gameplay. Zalia stands in some tall grass near the entrance of a forest. The scene is at sunset, as the sky is filled with brilliant gold, orange, and purple colors, with orange and gold-colored clouds. She's standing still, looking into the woods, and calling out: "Hello?"
June 21, 2025 at 10:15 PM
hadrosaurus.net
Zalia's cow parade.

#GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame #PixelArt #EnigmaHeart
Pixel art scene from Enigma Heart. The edge of the village of Lydaea, outside of Gabi and Marvela's house. Sumala stands at the edge of the town, looking outward. Marvela and Gabi are outside their house, looking on as our heroine Zalia walks into town, leading a black-and-white cow named "Dog" behind her.
May 26, 2025 at 6:28 PM
hadrosaurus.net
A few of the quieter moments from Enigma Heart.

store.steampowered.com/app/2986980/...

#ScreenshotSaturday #GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame #IndieGames #IndieGaming #PixelArt
A pixel art nighttime scene, looking out onto the ocean. A woman stands on a grassy hill facing the ocean, the face of which is a sheer rock cliff leading directly down to the beach below. A ship on the horizon is sailing away. The moon is full, with a few clouds surrounding it. There is a shooting star streaking across the star-filled sky. A bright, clear day in a wooded clearing. The player character, Zalia -- a young Black woman dressed in white, teal, and purple and carrying a sword and shield -- stands amidst some tall grass. A black-and-white cow stands behind her. Zalia sits in front of campfire on a hill overlooking a mountain range. It's nighttime. It has begun to rain. She is looking up into the rain. A scene inside what appears to be a tudor-style house with purple walls, gray bricks, and timber framing. Zalia lies in bed, her eyes closed. Esme, a white, redheaded woman, sits on a chair next to her bed, tenderly brushing a lock of purple hair out of Zalia's face.
May 24, 2025 at 8:11 PM
hadrosaurus.net
Zalia, what are you doing? This isn't Commander Keen!

#ScreenshotSaturday
Screenshot of our game "Enigma Heart", a pixel art, side-scrolling Zelda II-style action adventure game. The main character, Zalia, is using Link's famous down-stab move on an armored knight enemy.
March 15, 2025 at 5:37 PM
hadrosaurus.net
Check out these villagers!

[pixel art by @modernmodron.itch.io and @emszabo.bsky.social]

#PixelArt #IndieGame #GameDev #IndieGames #IndieDev #EnigmaHeart
A selection of pixel art NPCs of different genders, skin colors, clothing, and occupations. They're all roughly 16 by 32 pixels.
November 28, 2024 at 4:04 PM
hadrosaurus.net
No, he's not challenging Zalia to a scrap, that's just some placeholder text.

[pixel art by Clarissa, Em, and Rose]

#GameDev #IndieDev #IndieGame #IndieGames #IndieGaming #Screenshot #PixelArt #EnigmaHeart
Screenshot of Enigma Heart, village of Lydaea. Zalia is speaking to a man, whose dialogue box reads "Test me!"
November 27, 2024 at 5:12 PM
hadrosaurus.net
On the TODO list for today: image gallery and soundtrack player!

[This is a mockup made in Aseprite, but it'll look pretty much exactly like this in-game. --Clarissa]
A mockup of a GUI screen in our game "Enigma Heart." At the top is a menu with two items: "Gallery" and "Soundtrack." Below that is a list of song titles, with a progress indicator and tooltips showing the various playback controls. Currently playing is the track "Most Adventuresome Quest."
November 22, 2024 at 3:02 PM
hadrosaurus.net
Introducing the official key art and cover design for Enigma Heart, with art by @pepperly.art and logo by Clarissa!

Support at patreon.com/hadrosoft
Anime-style drawing. Two women stand on a dirt path that winds its way through a grassy meadow. The woman closer to the camera is Black, wielding a sword and shield, and on guard with a cocky smirk on her face. She has dark hair with a purple streak, and is wearing a teal vest over a white shirt with purple pants and white boots. Her name is Zalia. She's standing in front of and guarding Esme, a white woman with flowing red hair and wearing a blue-and-green tavern dress. Esme has her hands clutched together, swooning and blushing, clearly in love with this brave adventurer. In the background is a peaceful medieval village underneath a bright blue sky. Even farther in the distance is an ominous-looking castle. Above the castle, the sky has transitioned to a darker, more purple tone, with several bolts of lighting. Superimposed on the image are the logos for Enigma Heart (the game) and Hadrosaurus Software (the studio). The front cover design of a video game box. The previous anime scene has been cropped to fit a box that's slightly taller than it is wide, given a white stroke around the image, and set close to the center of the layout. The background is a deep blue which transitions to black at the bottom via ever-widening parallel stripes in a faux-gradient effect. The Enigma Heart logo and author Clarissa Toney's credit is above the artwork, and the Hadrosaurus Software logo is below it. At the top are the words "State-of-the-Art" and "High Resolution Graphics." At the bottom reads "For play on PC" and "Linux / Windows." A purple banner with white lettering stretches diagonally over the lower right corner of the artwork and reads "Action Series."
November 21, 2024 at 2:04 AM