The Doorway Effect was first conceived in February 2023. Jason and myself (Graeme) were ecstatic over the idea, and quickly put together a Steam page and posted about the game everywhere we could! And the reception was... mixed? That may be a little generous even :/

The central idea was "HD Roblox 'Doors' gameplay, but standalone, and with heaps of our own twists, ideas and flavor". But all anybody seemed to see was "Doors ripoff". This was obviously disheartening...

I very much assumed there'd be more trust in the 2 Left Thumbs brand. We didn't remotely shy away from our inspirations, and tried to make it clear something more original and innovative would emerge through the course of development. I don't blame anyone for thinking otherwise! We clearly didn't do enough to stake out our own identity early on, and likely announced things too soon.

We fumbled around for a month or so, brainstorming all sorts of new directions the game could be taken. Unique settings, and deeper lore that would distinguish the game further from its peers.

I think we got a little lost in the sauce at that time? Rather than continuing development, and allowing that identity to emerge (as we had originally planned), we were suddenly spinning our tires and heavily overthinking things. All that momentum we went in with was quickly dissipating...

Jason had other development opportunities lined up, and I shifted my efforts to supporting other new and upcoming releases under 2 Left Thumbs. We were fairly confident The Doorway Effect was dead... But after being SO excited about this project, I couldn't bring myself to take down the Steam page. I held out hope that'd we'd eventually find our way back.

After Jason completed his work on another game project, we got to talking again. We were both still keen to work together, and never once doubted that we'd be a great fit for a partnership! But we didn't immediately pick The Doorway Effect back up! There were a lot of doubts cast on the project, and the new plan was to first tackle something much smaller.

We spent the better part of a month in late 2023 brainstorming once again. This time ideating for something closer to the Mascot Horror subgenre. This was set to be an entirely new game (and possible franchise!) There were some cool ideas there, but slowly and surly, our gut instincts pointed us back towards The Doorway Effect!

Jason was already one of the most talented developers I've already worked with. And in the short time since first attempting this project, he continued to hone his craft, taking courses, and expanding on the foundational skills needed to make an ambitious project like this work!

The decision was made to reboot development. He has FULLY started over, and in short order, the game is already further along than where it originally left off! The gameplay will be largely the same as we originally planned - but starting out stripped down (no more overthinking!!), integrating some new influences, and carving out it's own identity right from Day 1.

Our new plan is start small, work fast, and leave near-infinite room for these base concepts to be expanded over and over! We'll be targeting a public demo in early 2024, adding to that base game alongside community feedback. The "demo" will be closer to a public Early Access. And we're currently looking towards a Q4 2024 paid release to coincide with the spooky Halloween season.

I'm as in love with this project as I was at the start of the year, and am thrilled with it's new direction! The Steam page has been updated with some early peaks at development, and will continue to be updated as things evolve from here. There will be plenty more to share soon enough. But for now, thank you all for your patience! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays :)