Devlog July 2026 – Rebuilding the Boss Fight

Picture of Andrea rubio

Andrea rubio

Marketing Director

Stay Dead - Blog #49

A great boss fight is more than a bigger enemy with a bigger health bar. It’s the culmination of everything you’ve learned along the way: a final test of the mechanics, puzzles, and skills you’ve picked up throughout the level. This month, we’re taking you behind the scenes of how we rebuilt our first boss encounter through playtesting, redesigns, community feedback, and a few bugs determined to steal the spotlight.

📣 About this Devlog

The first boss fight is one of the biggest moments in our current demo, so naturally… we rebuilt a good chunk of it.

One of the biggest lessons from playtesting was that this encounter shouldn’t be about button mashing. It’s about learning the room. Every attack teaches you something. Every mechanic builds on the last. Once the pieces click into place, what first looked like chaos starts to make sense.

Every redesign came back to the same goal: make the encounter clearer, smarter, and ultimately, more fun to play.

📺 What You’ll See in the Video

  • Why the first boss fight was rebuilt from the ground up.
  • How community playtests helped improve the camera and encounter readability.
  • Why the team chose to handle much of the boss logic directly through code.
  • How gameplay and narrative now work together to create a stronger payoff.
  • A behind-the-scenes look at game development (including one very enthusiastic bug!)

💛 Thanks for Watching

Every boss fight is the result of hundreds of tiny decisions. From redesigns and bug fixes to community feedback and countless playtests, every iteration helps us create a stronger boss fight and a better Stay Dead.

If you’d like to help shape the game, join our Discord community, where we regularly host playtests and share development updates. And if you haven’t already, wishlist Stay Dead on Steam to follow our progress as we continue building Porto Morto.

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