SYSTEM ONLINE // v4.5.1

ALASTIS // DEV

INDUSTRIAL GAME SYSTEMS

Solo indie studio. Dark fantasy games engineered on Windows and Android. Pure GML, pure passion.

// FREE — NO ADS — NO IN-APP PURCHASES
▶ MICROSOFT STORE ▶ GOOGLE PLAY
// ALASTIS_DEV CORE_TERMINAL
[OK] Shadow Blocks — LIVE // WINDOWS + ANDROID
[OK] Shadow Slash — LIVE
[OK] Shadow Raid — IN_PRODUCTION
[OK] Operation Shadow — PLANNED
ADS: 0 // IAP: 0 // STATUS: PRODUCTION
// FOUNDER_PROFILE
About the Studio

SOLO DEVELOPMENT // SUNDERLAND, UK

A/D
Alastis Dev is a one-person indie studio building dark fantasy games with engineering precision. Founded by Marek Banas — self-taught developer based in Sunderland, UK. Every game ships free, with no ads and no in-app purchases — the only support is a Ko-fi link you have to go looking for. The mission: prove that limitations breed creativity, and that games can respect your attention instead of farming it.
// ACTIVE_DEPLOYMENTS
Project Portfolio

3 ACTIVE PROJECTS // 1 PLANNED HIT

Shadow Blocks
// SHADOW_BLOCKS_v4.5.1
LIVE // WINDOWS + ANDROID
Shadow Blocks

Match-3 puzzle wrapped in cinematic dark fantasy. 80 handcrafted levels across 8 atmospheric biomes with animated 4K backgrounds. Tells a wordless story of escape from a cursed castle. No banners, no pop-ups, nothing to buy.

ZERO ADS ZERO IAP MATCH-3 WINDOWS ANDROID 80 LEVELS 8 BIOMES 6 LANGUAGES
COMPLETION100%
▶ MICROSOFT STORE ▶ GOOGLE PLAY VIEW BIOMES
Shadow Slash
// SHADOW_SLASH_v1.0.0
⚡ LIVE IN SHADOW BLOCKS
Shadow Slash

Skill-based mini-game built into Shadow Blocks. Slash falling gem blocks before they hit the ground. Avoid the cursed skull — one wrong cut ends your run. Same speed on every device, so the global TOP 100 actually means something.

MINI-GAME SKILL LEADERBOARD GLOBAL
STATUSLIVE
⚡ TOP 100 MICROSOFT STORE GOOGLE PLAY
Shadow Raid Boss
// SHADOW_RAID_v0.2.0
IN PRODUCTION
Shadow Raid

Top-down vertical space shooter. Modern evolution of the arcade classics — narrow passages, asteroid storms, hostile sectors. A hacker-pilot infiltrates The Shadow Core. Built on the modular ALASTIS CORE 2.0 engine.

SHOOTER SCI-FI 144HZ GLSL SHADERS VERTICAL
DEVELOPMENT60%
▶ ACT 1 COMPLETE
// SHADOW_BLOCKS // WORLD_MAP
8 Biomes / 80 Levels

ESCAPE FROM THE CURSED CASTLE // 4K ANIMATED BACKGROUNDS

Prison
PRISON
LEVELS 1-10
Dungeon
DUNGEON
LEVELS 11-20
Grave
GRAVE
LEVELS 21-30
Torture Chamber
TORTURE CHAMBER
LEVELS 31-40
Corridor
CORRIDOR
LEVELS 41-50
King Skeleton
KING SKELETON
LEVELS 51-60 // BOSS
Bridge
BRIDGE
LEVELS 61-70
Desert
DESERT
LEVELS 71-80
// LATEST_FROM_BLOG
From the Devlog

BEHIND THE SCENES // SOLO INDIE DEVELOPMENT

2026.07.16
v4.5.1 MILESTONE SOLO_DEV

I Deleted Every Ad From My Game — 28,656 Lines Gone

People installed Shadow Blocks and never played it. So I removed every ad — then Google blocked the release because I didn't have ads.

READ_FULL_POST →
2026.06.14
MILESTONE SHADOW_RAID ACT_1

Shadow Raid Act 1 Complete — The Boss Who Survives

Seven levels, one story arc, and a boss fight that ends with an alliance instead of a kill. Act 1 of Shadow Raid is done — from asteroid fields to enemy base, end to end.

READ_FULL_POST →
2026.06.02
SHADOW_RAID LEVEL_MAP SPRINT

Shadow Raid Dev Update #4 — Mapping Out the Desert

A full level map with stars and unlocks, plus a desert world that shifts beneath you — dry dunes, rock formations, and hidden oasis pools. The shape of Act 1 takes form.

READ_FULL_POST →
VIEW_ALL_POSTS →
// TRANSMISSION
Send Feedback

BUGS // IDEAS // JUST SAY HI

⚠ EMERGENCY BROADCAST ⚠

DEV TRAPPED
IN CODING HELL

EACH COFFEE UNLOCKS ONE HOUR OF ESCAPE
No ads, no IAP, no paywalls. This link is the entire business model.
☕ SEND COFFEE
// SHADOW_SLASH_RANKINGS
Global Leaderboard

TOP 100 // SHADOW SLASH // ALL TIME

⚡ SHADOW SLASH // TOP 100
LIVE DATA
// CONNECTING TO DATABASE...
// PRODUCTION_TIMELINE
Roadmap

WHERE WE ARE // WHERE WE'RE GOING

NOW
◆
Shadow Blocks v4.5.1 — LIVE ON TWO PLATFORMS
Microsoft Store and Google Play. Every ad and in-app purchase stripped out — 28,656 lines deleted. Free, and it stays that way.
NOW
⚡
Shadow Slash — Mini-game LIVE
Skill-based slasher with global TOP 100 leaderboard. Built into Shadow Blocks. Frame-rate independent, so every player competes on equal terms.
NEXT
🛸
Shadow Raid — In Production
Top-down vertical shooter. Four-act campaign. Act 1 complete — tutorial, boss fight, level map, desert world. It ships when it's good, not when a calendar says so.
LATER
🎮
Operation: Shadow — 2D Action Platformer
Story-driven platformer inspired by Code Name: Viper. Dark themes, dramatic narrative. The future flagship.
FUTURE
▣
Reign of Shadows — Dark Action RPG
Top-down action RPG in the Diablo tradition. Story-rich, ambitious scope. Details when ready.
// ENGINEERING_SPECS
The Machine Under the Hood

PRECISION ENGINEERING // MOBILE-FIRST DESIGN

// ENGINE
GameMaker Studio 2
Pure GML codebase. Pixel-perfect collision. High-performance sprite rendering. Professional license.
// FORMAT
9:16 Native
Portrait-first development. One-handed mobile play. Ergonomic controls.
// EFFICIENCY
Eco-Logic Coding
Subtractive rendering. Minimal thermal output. Maximum battery life. Optimized for OLED.
// TIMING
Frame-Rate Independent
Delta-time movement. Identical speed on a 30 FPS phone and a 165 Hz PC. Fair leaderboards.
// PRODUCTION_STACK
Tools I Use

BATTLE-TESTED // WHAT POWERS ALASTIS DEV

// ENGINE
GameMaker Studio 2
Game Engine
The backbone. Pure GML, fast iteration, mobile-first.
→ gamemaker.io
// BACKEND
Firebase
Realtime Database
Powers the global leaderboard. Free tier, zero downtime.
→ firebase.google.com
// HOSTING
GitHub Pages
Static Hosting
This site lives here. Free, fast, version-controlled.
→ pages.github.com
// VIDEO
Google Veo
Background Generation
Every animated background in Shadow Blocks. 8 biomes, 8 living scenes.
→ deepmind.google
// GRAPHICS
Photopea
Image Editor
Free Photoshop alternative. Sprites, UI, marketing assets.
→ photopea.com
// CODE_REVIEW
Claude
Senior Code Review
Catches bugs, suggests architecture, debugs production.
→ claude.ai
// DAILY_DRIVER
Gemini
Daily GML Partner
Day-to-day coding, planning, project memory.
→ gemini.google.com
// RESEARCH
NotebookLM
Knowledge Base
Project documentation, lore tracking, design decisions.
→ notebooklm.google.com
// SYSTEM_CREDITS
Credits & Contact

REACH OUT // FOLLOW THE BUILD

// FOUNDER
Marek Banas
// STUDIO
Alastis Dev
// FOUNDED
2026 — Sunderland, UK
// FIRST RELEASE
Shadow Blocks (2026)
// CONTACT
alastisdev@gmail.com
// SUPPORT
Ko-fi
// DEDICATED_TO
For my wife Judyta — the steady ground beneath every line of code.
And for my two boys, Erick and Brandon — who teach me every day what determination really means.
— Marek
☕ COFFEE? 💬 FEEDBACK?