Cosmic Mallard – News / Blog

Kepler Released

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 19:53:59 +0000

I’m very happy to announce the release of the Kepler Experiment, a survival-horror first-person shooter. It is available as a free download.

The Kepler Experiment aims to fuse old-school shooter mechanics (think Quake and Half-Life) with horror and survival-horror themes.

I started working on Kepler just over two years ago, largely as a project to experiment with the then newly released 4.0 version of the Godot Engine. I can’t praise the Godot Engine highly enough – it’s a truly wonderful engine, and freely available for everybody to use.

Kepler Release Date

Sat, 02 Aug 2025 16:18:07 +0100

I’m pleased to be able to announce a release date for The Kepler Experiment – 6th November 2025, 5PM GMT. It will be available as a free download on IndieDB and Itch.io.

Some of you have been following the development of this game from its initial announcement in October 2023, but the game actually began development in May of that year. Initially, it was a kind of experimental project, to learn the ins and outs of the Godot Engine. But since May 2023, it has evolved into a fully-fledged project. I’m satisfied with how it has turned out.

Teaser trailer for The Kepler Experiment

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 13:43:18 +0100

It’s been quite a long time (November!) since I last posted any kind of project update. The Kepler Experiment has been progressing well since then – there hasn’t been any kind of pause in development – but much of the work that goes into game development isn’t worth showing, so I haven’t had much cause to post.

But enough of the game is now complete that I’m happy to share a teaser trailer. The trailer gives a decent sample of the game, showing its environments, its gameplay systems, and hinting at the general story and setup. Hopefully it gives you an idea of the kind of game Kepler will be.

Progress update and media release

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 13:56:01 +0100

Progress on The Kepler Experiment has been steady since my last update in July. Below are some screenshots highlighting areas I’ve been working on. Naturally, these are all works in progress.

Work continues on other, less shareable features such as enemy AI, voice acting and various gameplay systems. After just over a year of development, the game is beginning to feel more like a complete experience rather than a mere proof of concept, which is incredibly encouraging.

The Kepler Experiment: Update 2

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 13:55:56 +0100

The Kepler Experiment is progressing slowly, but well. I wanted to put a post together, to talk about and show some of the game’s progress (note: all screenshots show incomplete, in-progress work!), and also talk a little bit about what to expect from the game itself.

The primary focus of development at the moment is the art passes of the game’s levels. These take a long time to complete. While art assets accumulate over time, and this adds increasing momentum, each area requires a degree of bespoke work – visual details unique to a given area, or attention-grabbing, memorable unique assets (very critical not only to avoid player boredom, but to act as landmarks in the labyrinthine maps).