Merlin's Shadow

Merlin is a powerful and secluded wizard in service to the great King Arthur. When he must leave to fight alongside the king in the Great War, he calls upon you - his less successful, overshadowed brother - to perform all manner of mundane household chores while he is away. 

Sick of being known only as “Merlin’s brother”, you decide to turn his study into a bustling cocktail tavern that can turn a real profit and make a name for yourself. You better get a move on, he’ll be back in 30 days.

Made for  the 2024 Pirate Software Game Jam with the themes - Shadows and Alchemy

Merlin’s Shadow is a tavern simulation game, with drink mixing, time/resource management and a mixture of Visual Novel and RPG elements. 

• "Shadows" interpretation - Overshadowed sibling; Shady business. The player embodies a character known only as “Merlin’s brother”, and proceeds to exploit his brother’s fame for his own benefit - by opening a dimly lit, shadowy tavern.

• "Alchemy" interpretation - While he’s no great wizard, Merlin’s brother did pretty well back in Alchemy class and has spent his fair share of time around grimy bars. It turns out he’s an absolute wizard when it comes to mixing drinks.

Original Game Jam Submission 

Rate Merlin's Shadow by jmcapra for Pirate Software - Game Jam 15 - itch.io

Unfortunately, despite a lot of testing before the final submission, this game was worked on until the last minute of the jam and the final submission upload failed due to the file size. No changes were made other than removing unnecessary assets so that itch.io would accept the upload.