Idle crafting · Educational · GDD v0.1
Katachi 形
The Art of the Blade — Every blade tells a story. Yours will last forever.
Run a museum forge from Mesopotamian copper daggers to Edo tamahagane — smelt, shape, refine, quench, and polish through five timer phases. Sandbox idle loop or Campaign Mode historic commissions shipped to real-world museums; your town Museum of the Blade displays replicas and lore cards as living legacy.
Smelt → shape → quench → polish
Crude → Legendary quality tiers
Core loop
Forge through history
Select materials → choose technique → forge timers (smelt 10–60s) → optional rhythm shape step → refine (folding, clay coat) → quench coolant choice → polish handle and sheath → sell or keep → upgrade bellows, quench tank, workshop.
Quality: Crude → Decent → Fine → Masterwork → Legendary from correct technique + timing + refinement.
Systems
Campaign & museum
12 civilization chapters — Sumer copper dagger to Edo katana to modern Damascus art blade. Museum contacts specify material + technique; ship Fine+ to Baghdad, Kyoto, Smithsonian, etc.
Town museum grows dusty shed → world-class institution (50+ blades). Techniques discovered via experimentation, lore hints, or traveling scholars — pattern welding, differential hardening, tamahagane folding.
Scope
Month 1: core loop fun
Base ($4.99 itch / $6.99 Steam): chapters 1–6, full sandbox, basic museum. DLC: Eastern Blade (Islamic + Japanese), Modern Forge, Legendary Commissions (Excalibur, Kusanagi), Women Smiths campaign.
Separate Godot kit ($14.99) for timer, recipe, order queue, museum display systems. No multiplayer — ever.
Universe
Connected easter eggs
Museum blade labeled “Found near ruins of [Kakuriyo location].” Truck-kun delivery crate on shipping dock.
Mysterious Japanese commission hints at Hoshi no Isan lore. Real metallurgy woven naturally — education without tutorial walls.
