Star Fisher
Developed by Spell Lynx Games
Star Fisher is a cozy sci-fi fishing adventure set on the alien ocean world Nami-9. You play as a small orbital fishing drone working for a feline megacorporation, casting from space into glowing atmospheric layers and strange underwater biomes. Each sector introduces new species, hazards, and upgrades as you expand your gear, deepen your reach, and catalog the planet’s living ecosystems. The experience blends calm fishing, light ecosystem management, and gentle exploration in a colorful, vertical world. It’s a quiet journey of discovery, curiosity, and steady progress among the stars.
The Making of Star Fisher
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In Vault of Novem’s tale, a daring cat hero has spent eight lives on past adventures and now faces their final chance. Deep within a perilous cave, monsters guard a legendary treasure said to restore lost lives. To claim it, the hero must brave traps, battles, and the unknown, knowing that one wrong step could end their journey forever.
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Vault of Novem’s visual style uses richly detailed pixel art to create a dark and atmospheric world filled with mystery and danger. Each biome’s color palette and lighting are carefully chosen to evoke a distinct mood, from shadowy caverns to firelit ruins. Fluid animations bring traps, enemies, and environmental details to life, creating a visually immersive journey that draws players deeper into the vault with every step.
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The sound design of Vault of Novem is an original Ableton-crafted soundtrack that blends eerie ambience with suspenseful tones, immersing players in the mystery of the vault. From subtle echoes to deep, resonant drones, every sound is designed to build tension, spark curiosity, and make each step feel like uncovering a new secret.
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Vault of Novem’s core mechanics are built for tight, responsive gameplay that rewards skill and strategy. Modular level generation creates endless room combinations, blending platforming, combat, traps, and puzzles in each run. Player choices shape the path ahead, while a wide range of perks and upgrades encourage experimentation and replayability. Behind the scenes, efficient programming ensures smooth performance, precise controls, and scalable systems that keep the experience fresh with every playthrough.
Gameplay Trailer
This video shows an early dive on Nami-9, highlighting the core loop of casting from orbit, guiding your line through atmospheric layers, and reeling in alien species across the planet’s glowing biomes. It previews the cozy pacing, station upgrades, and vertical exploration that define the Star Fisher experience.
Character Art
Terrain Art
Further Development
Vault of Novem was originally developed over the summer of 2025 as a project for ICS 485 at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. What began as a focused class assignment quickly grew into a passion project for our team, combining our skills in design, art, programming, and sound to bring a unique roguelike platformer to life. We would love to continue developing the game beyond its initial scope, expanding it into the following areas:
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Future chapters in Vault of Novem will introduce a cast of playable characters beyond the lone cat hero, each with their own style of play and reason for venturing into the vault. Their journeys will intersect through shared events and hidden connections, slowly revealing the vault’s origins and the forces that shaped it. Expanding lore entries, environmental storytelling, and narrative surprises will keep players curious about what lies deeper, making each descent not just a test of skill but a step toward uncovering the truth.
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In the ever-evolving world of Vault of Novem, future updates will introduce new zones with distinct aesthetics, each telling its own story through crafted backgrounds, vibrant palettes, and unique architectural styles. Players might journey from shadowy, rune-carved caverns beneath the city to sunlit floating isles draped in mystical flora, with dynamic weather and ambient animations bringing each locale to life. These stages will expand beyond visuals, adding fresh environmental hazards, platforming challenges, and interactive elements that keep each run unpredictable. Enhanced enemy designs, boss visuals, and character animations will maintain the game’s richly detailed pixel art style while amplifying immersion and intensity in every encounter.
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Upcoming audio enhancements will push Vault of Novem’s soundscape into new territory, with zone-specific music, adaptive layering, and more interactive sound cues. Each biome will carry its own identity through tone and texture, from tense, echoing chambers to vibrant, wind-swept heights. Combat encounters will be punctuated with satisfying feedback and atmospheric depth, while quieter exploration segments will invite players to linger and absorb the mood. Every step, swing, and puzzle will have a distinct sonic fingerprint, ensuring that sound remains an integral part of both the tension and the reward of discovery.
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Planned system updates will expand player options while keeping controls tight and responsive. Additional perk trees, movement abilities, and interactive objects will encourage new strategies and styles of play. Room generation logic will be refined to produce even greater variety in platforming, combat, and puzzle layouts, keeping each run fresh. Under the hood, optimization work will maintain smooth performance as features grow in complexity, while scalable code structures will make it easier to add new content without disrupting the game’s flow. The goal is to keep Vault of Novem feeling challenging, fair, and endlessly replayable.