The Secret History of The Castle Automatic

When Sean McCoy proposed the Dungeon23 project, I couldn't help but join in. I wrote two dungeons--one for His Majesty the Worm and one for Under Hill, By Water. This effort eventually went on to become the 100+ room, Metroidvania-inspired dungeon...The Castle AutomaticThe premise of The Castle Automatic is that there is a mechanical castle with a self-contained sun, moon, and seasons. It was once ruled by a cruel giant emperor, but has since fallen into ruin and become haunted by vampires and wind-up golems who play-act a continual faction war. Players need to repair the engines of the castle in order to control the flow of time inside it and change the environment to solve puzzles and find treasure.But I had been noodling on the basic idea for this dungeon for many years. It had taken root there when I was just a small child.The True Origins of The Castle AutomaticThere is an unfinished blogpost sitting in my drafts that I started I don't know how many years ago. I found it…