Devlog #1 - About this game.

Welcome to Yani Again.

Starting today, I plan to post a development log every month to share the progress of Yani Again, my design ideas, and what I'm currently working on. If you have any suggestions, feedback, or thoughts about the game, feel free to leave a comment in the community.

About the Developer

For those who are discovering my games for the first time, here's a brief introduction. I'm an indie game developer working solo. Previously, I developed and released the following games:

• Super Drift Blade (2025)

• Rage Simulator (2024)

• Balance 100 (2023)

• Mouse People (2022)

• Outside the Window (2022)

• Bubble People (2021)

• Treasure Drifter: Nian (2021)

• Beats Warrior: Nian (2019)

My games vary quite a lot in style because I enjoy experimenting with different genres. You can find more information on my Steam developer page: Steam Developer: Liujiajun Games Among all my projects, Yani Again is currently one of the largest and most ambitious games I've worked on.

What Kind of Game is Yani Again?

If I had to describe it in one sentence: Explore the world, discover time-trial courses, conquer them, and uncover even more hidden areas.

The core gameplay loop looks something like this: Explore → Discover Courses → Complete Challenges → Gain New Abilities or Rewards → Reach New Areas → Uncover More of the Story

Throughout your adventure, you'll unlock new movement abilities that allow you to reach places that were previously inaccessible. As you explore further, you'll discover hidden areas, shortcuts, and optional challenge routes.

Here's a short gameplay video showing one of the courses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKRuFWWuOxk

About the Difficulty

Many players worry that platforming games might be too difficult. For Yani Again, my goal is quite simple: I want the game to be approachable and completable for most players. I'm not trying to create an extremely demanding skill barrier.

Most players should be able to finish the main content, explore the majority of the world, and unlock every achievement (roughly similar in difficulty to Super Drift Blade).

However, if you enjoy mastering movement mechanics, the game's time-trial courses and leaderboard system offer an additional challenge.

Reaching the top of the leaderboards will likely require route optimization, precise execution, and lots of practice.

What Has Been Done So Far?

Development of Yani Again officially started around February to March this year. After releasing Super Drift Blade, I briefly worked on a small incremental game project, which is currently on hold. After that, I shifted my full attention to Yani Again.

So far, much of the game's foundation has been completed. The basic character actions currently include running and jumping, with slight differences between exploration mode and time-trial mode.

Available abilities include: Dash, Double Jump, Ground Slam, Ghost Step, Smash, Teleport.

The main menu, core UI systems, time-trial systems, and parts of the game's story and worldbuilding have also been completed. While there's still a lot of work ahead, the core gameplay framework is already in place.

Development Progress This Month

One major milestone completed recently is the map system. For an exploration-focused game, a good map experience is extremely important.

After multiple iterations, the map system has now been completed and fully integrated into the gameplay flow.

I'm also currently building the second major region of the game. This area will introduce new environments, exploration routes, and challenges. Most of my development time is currently spent on level design and world building. Honestly, it's one of the largest level-building tasks I've ever undertaken, involving multiple layers of terrain, collision setup, and environmental object placement.

About Tags

Here's a fun question. Even now, I'm still not entirely sure which tags best describe Yani Again.

• Metroidvania (without heavy ability gating or complex backtracking)

• Platformer (despite being top-down)

• Time Trial / Speedrunning Challenge

• Exploration Adventure

Or perhaps it's a combination of all of them. Tags are becoming increasingly important, but sometimes categorizing a game isn't as straightforward as it seems. As development continues, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what tags best fit Yani Again.

Final Words

Thank you for reading this development log. There's still a long road ahead for Yani Again, but I'll continue sharing updates and progress regularly. If the game interests you, feel free to: Join the community, share your ideas and feedback, and let me know what you'd like to see next! See you in next month's development log.

Thank you for your support!

liujiajun June 10, 2026

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