Dead Rose

My father, Luc, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In 2023, he took his own life after years of hardship and painful loss. Today, it is my turn to grieve. To honor his memory and explore such dark themes, I chose a medium filled with joy, lightness, and poetry: video games. This art form often demystifies death, portraying it as a necessary passage rather than a final end. In 2025, I decided to create my own video game: Dead Rose.

A story inspired by my father’s life, to whom I pay homage through this project.

Dead Rose is a hand-crafted 2D pixel art action-adventure game. A unique blend of Metroidvania and Zelda-like gameplay set in a dark yet colorful world—both gloomy and magical. Forget cozy games, cluttered interfaces, and endless cutscenes: here, your time is spent playing, exploring the world around you, and discovering unique abilities that continuously enrich the gameplay throughout your journey.

You play as Lucky, a skeleton who awakens in a secluded graveyard and discovers his own grave. Lost in the world of spirits, he will do everything in his power to find Rose, the love of his life, and uncover the truth behind the occult ritual that brought him here. Fortunately, a series of unlikely encounters will help him thwart Death’s plans and grow stronger with each challenge, enabling him to face the many dangers that stand in his way.

Use your primary ranged attack to defeat hordes of monsters, and your secondary attack to trap them in bile when you find yourself cornered. At each experience level, you will earn Flames :  which can be used to upgrade your attributes and become more powerful.

Manage your health and mana carefully through the Annelid Form, which lets you replenish your energy reserves but leaves you more vulnerable than ever. Everything is a matter of balance and timing!

Seek out the Save Roses, the only way to save your progress. They will grant you a few precious moments of respite. Explore a vast interconnected world to unlock new abilities that grant access to previously unreachable areas. Gather gold along the way and trade it for powerful magical items as you carve your path toward the one who drew you into this realm. But beware—you may not like the truth that awaits you...