InDomino’s
dev diary.

Some earlier entries say a change was not in the demo yet. That was true on each entry’s date. Since then, the demo has been rebuilt from newer versions of the game.

On October 1, it received the current tile look, the current items, and the first three music tracks. On October 6, the new opening arrived. The current version was published on October 8.

The scope is the same: three stages, on a computer, with keyboard and mouse, and no bosses. Each demo update uses the game as it was at that moment, limited to the start of the campaign.

Markers add 1, 2, or 3 pips to one half of a regular domino and cost $4, $9, and $14. The change is permanent: the tile takes on the new number in the rules and in scoring.

On hover, the tile shows which half will get the ink and how it will look. The purchase only happens after you pick the half and confirm. Halves that would go above 9 are blocked.

The drawn pips use black ink and follow each value’s normal pattern. Factory pips that stay in place are preserved.

On the 8th, the marker started showing up more often in the shop, including from the first stage.

During scoring, points sped up while the multiplier kept its own pace. Now both use the same acceleration, without changing how long the effects last.

To tune these timings, I built a lab that shows a complete count, with points, bonuses, multiplier, and result, at normal or accelerated speed.

The game now has three speeds: 1x, 1.5x, and 2x. Your choice is saved between sessions.

After beating the last boss, a congratulations screen offers a choice: stop, or continue the same run.

If you continue, you face the bosses again, with higher intensity each time they return. The shop starts offering stronger bottle caps, from +5 to +7 multiplier.

The campaign still has 25 stages and five bosses. Endless play comes after it, in the development version. The site demo ends at the third stage and does not offer this continuation.

The balance of these extra cycles is still being studied.

The opening now uses the inDomino mark chosen for the game, over a green background. Behind it, dominoes fall with physics and pile up on screen.

There are 48 tiles at once, with the same materials and specials as in play. You can grab a tile with the mouse, drag it, and let go. With reduced motion turned on, the tiles appear already arranged.

The first version was heavy. Grouping drawing by layer and caching composed faces took the scene from about 90 to more than 160 frames per second at 1080p on the development computer.

The Play button still comes first: the opening does not delay getting into a run.

I set up separate workbenches to test materials and school stickers on the tiles. You can change the stickers’ count, size, rotation, and position without them covering the pips.

Three utility materials were implemented with their rules: one creates permanent copies, one recovers random tiles, and one spreads stickers to neighboring tiles. They do not appear in the shop yet.

In play, the hand and the chain gained a horizontal vanishing point at the center of the screen. Tiles on each side overlap toward the center, and click areas stay the same.

The labs belong to the development version. Sticker and material effects are still being studied.

I first tried a pixel-art interface pilot. It was archived, and I kept the current look with a few fixes to the shop and boss screens.

Then panels, shop, menus, rewards, and tooltips were rebuilt with an original kit of 23 images that stretch without distorting their corners. Text, prices, numbers, and click areas are still generated by the game.

The domino gained a modular structure: two square halves, each with a three-by-three grid of positions. A single pip is repeated in the positions for each value, instead of a ready-made drawing for every number.

I also tested pixelating the pips with a shader. The controls worked, but in motion the result looked like a filter. The effect stayed only on the outline, body, and shadow, and the pip now uses its own image.

When your score reaches the Golden target, the stage ends there, without waiting for the remaining plays. If plays are left, each regular tile still in your hand pays $1, on top of the normal reward.

Those tiles are counted before the hand is refilled. Discarded tiles, the rest of the set, and stored specials do not count.

Fixes followed: Golden now works on all 25 stages, including outside boss fights, and the stage ends before any new tile enters the hand. On the last play, the stage ends without the extra bonus.

Before, a tile only changed material when it ranked up. Now the transition is gradual: each level blends in a bit more of the next material, from regular to bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.

The blend starts slowly and speeds up near the next rank. The edge, bevel, and metallic reflection follow the same proportion.

With color telling that story, the level number in the center of the tile is hidden. It still exists in the rules and can come back if needed.

The color progression was reviewed in the lab and approved on October 7. Scoring and rank rules did not change.

Pocket items gained new families: dice that favor even or odd values, bottle caps that add multiplier, coins that raise the base score, and rings that reward tiles of a specific rank.

During scoring, each contributing item flashes when it enters the count. One-time effects come first, then the per-tile ones. Wear happens all at once at the end, after the result.

Hovering over an item shows its name, effect, wear condition, and durability. Specials now need one round to recharge after use, and the specials reserve is capped at five.

Prices and how often these items show up in the shop are still initial values.

The music now changes with the stage. There are eight tracks for regular stages and one reserved for bosses, with smooth transitions between stages and at the point where each track loops.

Sound effects started with a pilot of 17 sounds: picking up and dropping tiles, evolution, shop purchases, and boss introductions. Each tile drop varies a little, and reordering the hand makes a light scrape for every domino that moves.

The start menu gained a settings screen with language and separate music and effects volumes, from 1 to 10. The three save slots now work directly in the list: an empty slot starts a run, and a used one can be loaded or deleted.

The sounds are still being listened to and reviewed before they are considered final.

The first difficulty study used a simplified model of the rules. In September, it started running the real game without an interface, with the same tiles, specials, items, and targets as a normal run.

Each simulation records the path through the campaign: what was played, where every point came from, and the stage where the run ended. Results are exported as JSON and CSV, so one setup can be compared with another.

I also separated visual randomness from gameplay randomness. That way, a cosmetic effect cannot change the outcome of a simulation.

With that data, score targets received a pressure adjustment on September 21. By the end of the month, an automated research player started making simple shop purchases and could see which tiles were left in the set.

This is a research tool, not a final calibration. Campaign difficulty is still under review.

After comparing versions in the lab, the approved domino look entered the game. The face bends slightly, edge lighting follows the tile’s tilt, and metallic ranks gained reflections that react to position.

In the hand, the selected tile lifts with its shadow attached. During scoring, each domino’s shadow follows it too. On hover, the tile responds with a subtle movement and a short sound.

Smaller fixes came with it: the wildcard now follows the chain’s orientation, and global item bonuses are part of the scoring animation.

The lab tools stay out of the distributed build. The open library remains a separate plan, still without a public package.

I was adjusting the domino so it could feel like it had volume without stopping being a 2D tile. The face bends a little, the thickness follows, and the lighting moves with it. It is a small detail on one tile, but it changes how the whole table reads.

While comparing these versions, it became clear that this part does not need to stay inside InDomino. Other 2D games run into the same question: how do you give a card, tile, or object volume without replacing the artwork with 3D?

That is why I decided to prepare an open-source library for this kind of effect. There is no package or public repository yet. First, I need to separate what belongs to the game from what can be useful to someone else.

The goal is to share a foundation for layers, warp, lighting, and reactive materials on 2D elements. The lab remains where that visual language is being tested. This step does not change the published demo.

The diary can now be read in Portuguese or English. The translation includes older entries, captions, and the game’s introduction, without changing recording dates.

The site uses your browser’s language when you arrive. If you want to switch, PT and EN are at the top, and your choice is saved in this browser when storage is available.

The demo page has that choice too. You can change controls and notices without restarting your run. Text inside the game has not been translated yet; that is a separate part of the work.

When a domino changes rank, its border glints and small fragments follow the change. An ordinary level increase uses a smaller response, so not every improvement looks the same.

Tile Flick also gained a contact mark and a short trail beside the falling tile. When the score reaches Pass, Bonus, or Golden, the effect appears at that target’s panel. Its origin helps show what just happened.

To compare these responses, I built a lab with the previous version and the candidate side by side. You can pause, scrub through the effect, and check its start, peak, and end under the same conditions.

Another lab opens eight game situations, runs the actual actions, and returns to the comparison. Effects can be checked with tiles, scoring, and the interface, rather than just against an empty background.

The workbench now has 19 recipes. Twelve are studies for objects, controls, and rewards that are not active in the campaign. Being able to inspect a proposal in the lab does not make it part of the game.

The effects respect intensity, reduced-motion, and flash settings. No new audio was added. This work remains in the development version, without changing the published demo.

The dominoes already had a more pronounced border, but the score panels and buttons still looked thin beside them. The adjustment started with that difference: use the tile as a reference for border thickness and corner size.

Panels came first. Then buttons received the same proportions, without increasing their size or changing colors, text, or clickable areas.

Rounding the corners revealed another detail. The study brought the shape closer to the dominoes, but lost the highlights and shadows that gave the border depth. This option was still a visual test, not the version used in play.

Restoring the depth solved one part. The outside corner was rounded; inside, the border still closed diagonally. In the next revision, the inner curve followed the outer one while preserving the finish of the straight sections.

These adjustments belong to the development version from September 12 and 13. They are not in the site’s demo yet.

In the March and April videos, support items still appear as stones. In September, they changed to pocket items: counters, toy tools, an hourglass, and a marble, among others.

They have the same ten effects. The change did not add new powers or alter prices. Each object received three visual states to show wear until it can no longer be used.

The original stones are still preserved. In the development version, you can compare the two sets on separate art-lab pages without changing the support items in your run.

Research for the next selection of objects is still open. Bottle caps and shells are candidates, but no new effects have been assigned to them. That discussion has not replaced the current set.

This change belongs to the development version. It does not update the three-stage demo on the site.

You can now play InDomino here on the site. The first demo contains the campaign’s three opening stages and runs in a desktop browser, with keyboard and mouse.

It is a short slice: build your first sequences and try to reach the targets. Bosses are not included. The campaign’s first encounter happens at stage 5, and it was not moved forward to fit the demo.

After your third win, the demo ends and you can start another run. Progress is saved in this browser when storage is available. If the browser blocks saving, the page tells you and the game continues.

The full campaign is still in development, with 25 stages and five bosses. For now, you can get to know the game at these three tables. The “Play the demo” button is at the top of the page.

On September 12, InDomino was already running in the browser in a local test version. You could check the image and interaction with the table, but there was no public demo on the site yet.

In the same phase, bosses gained temporary expressions to signal some effects. Score panels were also rearranged in the order Golden, Bonus, Pass, and Player.

The difficulty study covered all 25 stages and found results outside the expected ranges. It was a simplified simulation, not a complete run with shop choices and tile progression. The results remained a starting point for investigation, without changing the game’s values based on that limited model.

Opening the demo through the site still required preparing the loading process and checking browser saves. Running locally did not settle either part.

Closing and reopening the game should not change the random sequence of a saved run. In the native version, resuming started preserving that sequence alongside the rest of the state.

Endings received work too. Victory and defeat gained adjustments to the summary, restart options, and what remained on screen after the result.

Fixes addressed temporary states carried between stages and Echo’s presentation. These were details that needed resolving before continuing or starting another run.

The changes were checked in test scenarios and Windows packages. This delivery, recorded on September 11, concerns the native version. Browser saving still needed its own verification.

Support items wear down with use. During this phase, I worked on showing that wear, domino levels, and the visual difference between available and used tiles. The shop already offered repairs; the table also needed to show the condition of what you were bringing along.

At the end of March, Mimic gained variants that create two or three double tiles from the target’s right end. The special did not always have to create the same number of copies, and those options became part of the shop.

I also adjusted special-tile dragging and feedback at wildcard ends. The target tile needed to stay readable during application, without the effect spilling into another area.

In May, overlay specials could reach the play area. Targets were no longer limited to your hand: a tile already on the table could receive the effect too.

Levels, wear, and specials needed to return in the same state when opening a saved run. These changes affected both presentation and saving, not just the final score.

The campaign reached 25 stages. During this period, the Gambler also brought wagers into encounters.

I reorganized the transitions between encounters, rewards, and the shop. What you earn after a win needs to be available when you start preparing for the next stage.

The shop gained rarities and new options. Golden rewards started accumulating free offer refreshes. You can use those chances to change what is for sale without spending money.

Browsing the set of dominoes also gained its own screen. It became more straightforward to see which tiles were available in the run.

More stages did not mean the difficulty was settled. Targets, rewards, and the pace of progression were still being studied.

The Bully was the first boss to get his own encounter. Portraits, dialogue, and introduction and defeat sequences followed.

His expressions started following his mood during the run. His face shifts between confidence, pressure, and irritation as you play.

His interference also entered the game. Tile Flick knocks a tile out of your hand, so the taunt has a consequence you need to consider on your next play.

I also adjusted when the taunt happens. The tile needs to fall before you regain control, so you know what you have lost when you continue.

Rewards now had somewhere to go. Between stages, the shop arrived with offers and options to buy, sell, and repair.

From March 9 to 12, this part gained navigation, item selection, and a connection to the previous stage’s result. Money earned after a win became part of preparing for the next table.

You look at what is for sale, check your money, and decide what to take. You can also sell or repair. These choices happen between stages, but they are still part of the same run.

The shop’s presentation came together alongside that flow: green felt, wooden frames, and items on cards. The screen brings together what you own, what you can buy, and the actions available at that moment.

A domino has a body and two halves with pips. In March, I separated those parts in the artwork: one image for the body and others for the values on each side.

That let me build a tile from its values without needing a complete image for every combination. The same body works for dominoes with different ends.

Over the next few days, the body gained frames to follow the tile’s angle. Dragging and rotation started using that artwork, keeping the pips on the same body.

With wildcards and multipliers, your hand no longer depended only on the values printed on the tiles. Specials started changing what you could do with the dominoes you had.

From March 4 to 8, I worked on both the effects and the steps needed to use them. A special needed to leave the reserve, reach the chosen tile, and show what had changed on screen.

Support stones became part of the calculation. Some effects add points; others increase the multiplier. The score started depending on both the chosen tiles and the available support items.

Connections and scoring needed to reflect the same change. A wildcard changing one end would not help if the table still treated the tile as having its previous value.

In March 2026, I started using InDomino as the game’s name. Dominox was the previous name and still appears in some files. The public name changed before the rename was finished inside the project.

Domino levels had been in the code since June 2025. In March, I revised the ranks and their bonuses and worked on the animations that show a tile changing.

The color change and animation help you follow that progression without leaving the table. Alongside the next stage’s target, you have the dominoes in your run to develop.

The bonuses also became part of the scoring studies. Revising the tiles did not settle difficulty targets or reward values.

Playing tiles and getting a total does not show how much each domino added. Tile order and effects are part of the calculation, so that result also needs to show up on the table.

In February 2026, I adjusted the sequence: the dominoes enter the play area first, the chain joins together, points appear tile by tile, and then the total is counted.

The next hand started waiting for that sequence to finish. Previously, replacement tiles could appear while the last play was still being shown. Two things were happening on screen at once.

Stage success and failure messages also received adjustments. This change was about presentation: follow the connections, watch the points come in, and only then move on to the next hand.

The hand gained multi-tile selection, reordering, and improvements to dragging. Dominoes also started responding to the mouse before leaving the hand.

Tiles entering the hand, selecting several at once, and movement on hover all received adjustments. Panels and fonts changed alongside the interaction.

Behind the screen, I separated the rules from the code that draws and moves the tiles. I reorganized that structure and added tests to check what still worked after the changes.

On June 16, I added the first version of tile progression: levels and copper, silver, and gold categories. That code and its tests already existed in 2025. The bonuses and the look of evolved tiles would change considerably in March 2026.

In May 2025, the work was getting a domino to respond to a click and follow the mouse onto the table. Once it connected, the points were counted.

Through that month, I worked on the set of dominoes, the stages, and the sequence of rounds. You could already pick a hand, play it, and earn points. Animations and the first sounds also started to follow those actions.

It was not the campaign we have today. This first version was about getting the dominoes moving and making a play happen from start to finish.