158: Moonlighting in the Dungeon with Mark Essen (Blood Dungeon)

We chat with Mark Essen (Nidhogg, Wheel World) about his "feverish bullet heaven platformer" Blood Dungeon. We discuss making a small game in the shadow of a bigger project, the constraints it takes to do it sanely, and building on the foundations of a nascent genre.

Discussed in this episode:

Messhof

https://messhof.com

Blood Dungeon

https://messhof.com/blooddungeon

exp. zine - Vampire Survivors

https://expzine.com/2026/07/21/vampire-survivors-poncle-2022/

Death to the Self-Playing Game

https://www.jank.cool/death-to-the-self-playing-game/?ref=aftermath.site

Messhof Marchive

https://messhof.com/freeware