RingSlinger — Stances & Paradigms

Stances ("paradigms" in lore) are hand poses that change how the rings on that hand interact. Each hand can be in a different stance.

How stances are obtained

• Splayed is the default — owned at game start.
• All others are learned by defeating a "Paradigm Master" — a mid-game

mini-boss in a specific dimension (see 03-ring-catalog.md for which dimension drops which stance).

• Once learned, a stance is permanently in the player's collection. Switch

freely from the inventory screen.

Stance catalog

Stance design rules

When designing future stances, follow these constraints:

1. At least one axis is buffed; at least one is nerfed. No "all 1.5×"

stances — they trivialize choice.

1. Total multiplier sum stays ≈ 3.0 across H/V/D. (Splayed = 3.0;

Heart Hands = 3.5 for the cross-hand bonus tradeoff; Crossed = 3.0.)

1. One unique mechanic per stance. Number tweaks alone are boring;

each stance should change the feel of play.

Per-hand stance switching

The user can run different stances per hand:

• E.g., Left hand = Open Palm (defensive), Right hand = Finger Guns

(single-column burst).

• Forces interesting build decisions because cross-hand effects (Tether thumb,

Heart Hands stance) interact differently.

Cycle stance from the inventory screen by tapping the small hand thumbnail on each hand. The large hand graphic re-poses to match.

Visual presentation

• Inventory screen: large illustration of both hands in their current

stance, with ring icons sitting on each knuckle/thumb. Reset slots glow faintly. The thumbnail to cycle stance is in the corner of each hand.

• Combat screen: stylized hand silhouettes drift in the periphery

(HUD-adjacent), mirroring the stance. Ring orbs swirl around the player proper.

• Stance change animation: hands morph between poses with a small particle

poof. Reading time: ~0.3s.

Future stance ideas (parking lot — not v1)

• Devil Horns 🤘 — Shadow and Spirit rings get +100%; Light rings disabled.
• OK Sign 👌 — Random rings get rerolled every 10s.
• Stop ✋ — Time-themed: slow-mo aura around player.
• Thumbs Up 👍 — Buff allies (if co-op happens later).
• Vulcan Salute 🖖 — Splits index/middle from ring/pinky — they become two

independent micro-hands with separate adjacencies.

RingSlinger — Progression & Content

How the player gets stronger, what gates each milestone, and how the world is structured.

Macro-progression: the homeward arc

The story frame is "return through the eleven realms." Each realm is a self-contained vignette (~30–60 min on average difficulty). The eleventh — Home — is the finale, and the only one that should have been a place at all.

The Slinger must have all 5 lost rings to access realm 11. The 5 stances above are optional but make the late game easier.

Micro-progression: within a realm

Each realm has:

• A hub area (safe, can re-arrange rings, talk to NPCs)
• 5–8 stages in a branching node graph (player picks the path)
• Each stage = 1 of:

- Combat wave (3–5 sub-waves, ~3 min) - Treasure room (small puzzle, guaranteed gems/ring) - Elite encounter (high-risk, high-reward) - Shop (spend gold for re-rolls, ring upgrades, gems) - Mystery (random event, narrative beat)

• A mini-boss at midpoint
• A realm boss at the end

Stages are visually presented like the path nodes in Slay the Spire — top-down map, player chooses left/right at each branch.

Currency & economy

Sparks are the meta-currency that persist between runs. They unlock:

• New starting rings (run begins with 1 chosen ring of player's choice).
• Stance slot expansions (start with 2 stances chosen).
• Knuckle slot pre-unlocks (start with 12 instead of 8 slots open).

Ring level system

Gilded trait (red gem): permanent +25% to all of that ring's effects. Stacks with level multiplier.

Knuckle slot unlocking

The Slinger starts with 8 of 28 ring positions available:

• Both index fingers: rows 1-2 (4 slots)
• Both middle fingers: row 1 (2 slots)
• Both ring fingers: row 1 (2 slots)
• Total: 8

Unlocks come from:

1. Clearing a realm for the first time — +2 slots per realm

(10 themed realms × 2 = +20 → 28 by endgame).

1. Thumb slots are gated behind specific lost rings:

- Q4 Silver Tongue unlocks L-thumb T1. - Q5 Keymaster unlocks R-thumb T1. - Defeating an Arcanum sub-boss unlocks both T2 thumbs.

This keeps the Slinger's ceiling expanding throughout the campaign and ensures inventory complexity grows gradually.

Difficulty curve

Replay value & post-game

After finishing Home:

• Ascension mode — re-run any realm at higher difficulty for unique

drops (gilded rings, alt-skin rings).

• Daily challenges — fixed seed realm w/ specific ring restrictions

(e.g., "Beat Storm Spire using only elemental rings"). Leaderboard.

• Endless mode — infinite waves in a single arena, scoring leaderboard.
• Build library — save & share favorite ring layouts via QR code.

Tutorialization

• First minute: Move + pick up 1 Fire ring. It auto-fires.
• First wave end: Pick up 1 Earth ring. Tutorial pops: "Place Earth next

to Fire to create Lava."

• End of Dim 1 hub: Tutorial introduces vertical stacking.
• End of Dim 2: Diagonal mechanic is taught.
• End of Dim 3: First stance unlocks; UI teaches cycling.
• No tutorial text after Dim 3. Player is on their own to discover the

remaining ~80 ring types and their combos. This is by design — discovery is the long-tail draw.

Accessibility

• Color-blind palette option (matrix uses shapes/icons too, not just color).
• One-thumb mode (move via tap-to-go).
• Slow-mo combat option (50% time scale always, for new/disabled players).
• Reduced VFX option (cuts particle density 50–80%).
• Auto-pause when inventory open.

Localization (post-launch)

Strings to localize (not in v1):

• Ring names (40)
• Blend names (~200 iconic blends)
• Stance names (10)
• UI strings & tutorial prompts

Emoji visual identity is universal — minimizes localization scope.

RingSlinger — Research & References

Per the user's brief: "analyze existing bullet heaven mechanics, auto-battler inventory systems, and other relevant resources before finalizing your work."

This document captures what was studied and how each title's lessons fed into RingSlinger.

Bullet-heaven (passive-attack) references

Vampire Survivors (Poncle, 2022)

Key mechanics studied:

• Auto-firing weapons with independent cadences.
• "Evolutions" — weapon X + passive Y at max level → new evolved weapon.
• Brief micro-decisions during level-up: pick 1 of 3 offerings.
• Loop is 5–30 min per run, low input intensity, massive screen-clutter

for catharsis.

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• Rings = VS weapons; cadence model directly inspired by it.
• Blends are RingSlinger's "evolutions" — but they emerge from placement,

not from leveling. This is a deeper, more dynamic version: you can have multiple "evolutions" running simultaneously and re-arrange to change them.

• Inventory grid is RingSlinger's unique twist on VS's weapon-picker.

Brotato (Blobfish, 2022)

Key mechanics studied:

• 30s waves with a shopping phase between — fast, snappy loops.
• Wide weapon variety; class-based starts.
• High build flexibility per run.

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• Wave-based level pacing.
• Per-dimension drop tables function similarly to Brotato's class-based

start weapon pools.

• The shop between dimensions ≈ Brotato's between-wave shop.

20 Minutes Till Dawn (flanne, 2023)

Key mechanics studied:

• Synergy-based modifier system ("traits" combine for surprising effects).
• Build identity emerges quickly.

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• Synergy emergence is the entire pitch — adjacency is the synergy system.
• "Traits" map onto Stat rings (Speed, Power, Luck, etc.).

Magic Survival (LEME, 2021)

Key mechanics studied:

• Mobile-first auto-attack roguelite.
• Touch controls, one-handed play.

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• iOS-first design language; virtual joystick + auto-fire.
• HUD density tuned for small screens.

HoloCure (Kay Yu, 2023)

Key mechanics studied:

• Character abilities + collab-attack synergies.
• Vibrant, anime-style VFX layered without overwhelming.

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• Visual readability under heavy VFX load — clear silhouettes for enemies even

during chaos.

Auto-battler / inventory-adjacency references

Backpack Battles (Play With Furcifer, 2024)

Key mechanics studied:

• Item placement in a 9x6 grid; size/shape matters.
• Adjacency synergies (poison item next to weapon = poisoned weapon).
• Item levels (combining 3 = upgrade).

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• This is the closest cousin. RingSlinger's hand grid + adjacency is a

Backpack Battles cousin, but with three types of adjacency (H/V/D) instead of one, and with a fixed grid shape (hands) instead of a Tetris-y free placement.

• Combining duplicate rings to level = direct Backpack Battles inspiration.

Backpack Hero (TheJaspel, 2023)

Key mechanics studied:

• Single-player roguelite with adjacency item synergies in a backpack.
• Distinct effects per item × neighbor type.

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• Single-player loop + adjacency is the same DNA.
• The "tinkering" feel during quiet moments between fights.

Teamfight Tactics / Auto-chess (Riot, 2019)

Key mechanics studied:

• Compositional synergies (3 of class X = bonus).
• Positioning matters but on a tile grid.
• Item combining (3 items merge into upgraded item).

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• The "compositional bonus" maps onto Resonance thumb (boosts whole hand).
• Item combine ≈ same-ring vertical stacking → level up.

The Binding of Isaac (Edmund McMillen, 2011)

Key mechanics studied:

• Massive item pool with emergent synergies (the famous "item combos").
• Players love discovering combos rather than reading them in a tutorial.

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• 900+ horizontal combos × etc. = effectively infinite combo space. Players

will be sharing "did you know Fire+Time+Speed becomes…" memes for years.

• No combo encyclopedia in-game by default. Discovery is the long-tail

draw. (Optional unlockable: bestiary that fills in as you trigger each combo.)

• 900+ horizontal × 900 vertical × 900 diagonal = effectively infinite

combo space. Players will share "did you know Fire+Time+Speed becomes…" memes for years.

Top-down Zelda-style references

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo, 1991)

Key mechanics studied:

• Overworld → dungeon structure.
• Item-gated progression (hookshot lets you reach new areas).

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• Each dimension = a "dungeon" in spirit.
• Quest rings function as Zelda key items (Wayfinder = compass,

Keymaster = boss key, etc.).

Tunic (Andrew Shouldice, 2022)

Key mechanics studied:

• Discoverable mechanics — game doesn't explain everything.
• A literal in-game manual that the player assembles by finding pages.

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• No combo encyclopedia in v1.
• Stretch idea: a collectible Ring Codex the player assembles — each

page found explains one ring type's interactions. Drop the codex pages through-out the world for completionists.

Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine, 2016)

Key mechanics studied:

• Bold pixel-art aesthetic with neon palette.
• Wordless storytelling.

Adapted into RingSlinger:

• Color-saturated palette per dimension.
• Story is environmental + minimal-text.

Specifically-relevant UI references

Radar charts in games

The Image #1 reference (worldshapin radar) is the inspiration for our Power Paradigm chart (see 02-game-mechanics.md §7, 10-power-paradigm-chart.md).

Other games using radar for build feedback:

• Path of Exile — passive skill tree summary
• Path of Building (POB tool) — DPS axis breakdown
• Various sports management games — player attributes radar

The radar serves as a fingerprint of the player's current build — a single glance tells you "am I a glass cannon, a tank, a utility specialist?" without reading 28 ring tooltips.

Hand-based UI in games

• Reigns (Nerial, 2016) — minimalist swipe-card UI. Not directly an

inspiration, but proves single-screen mechanic-heavy games work on mobile.

• Faith of Danschant: Hereafter — uses fingers symbolically.
• Hand of Fate (Defiant, 2014) — cards + hands metaphor.

The "ring on every finger" visual is iconic enough to be the marketing hook. It's the Vampire Survivors XP gem-vacuum moment for our game — instantly recognizable.

What makes the system addictive (synthesis)

From studying the above, the addictive loop hinges on three reinforcing forces:

1. Discovery dopamine — finding a new combo that you didn't read about

anywhere. The matrix is intentionally vast (900+ pairs × 3 types) so this never runs dry. Tunic + Isaac taught us this.

1. Tinkering payoff — re-arranging the hand feels meaningful because tiny

placement changes flip blends. Backpack Battles taught us this.

1. Snackable run length — 5–15 min runs, easy to pick up & put down on

mobile. Vampire Survivors taught us this.

Combine all three and you have a game players will return to daily for the long tail.

Open research questions (TBD in playtest)

• Is 30 base rings too many for a mobile audience? Possible answer:

introduce them progressively across realms (player meets ~3 new ring types per realm).

• Should diagonal bleed be opt-in (off by default)? Power players love

it; newbies might find it confusing. Possible answer: introduce diagonal only at realm 2+, after horizontal is fully internalised.

• Mobile performance ceiling. ~28 rings × multiple particle systems

each could hit perf walls on older devices. Plan: aggressive VFX pooling + "reduced VFX" accessibility option.

RingSlinger — Power Paradigm (Radar Chart)

The screenshot you provided (Image #1: worldshapin's country-shape radar) strongly suggests using a multi-axis radar chart to represent overall ring power. Yes — we should adopt this.

What the chart shows

6 axes, each scored 0–25 based on currently-equipped rings (the values are sums of per-ring contributions from a table in the build tester sheet).

                       OFFENSE (raw dmg)
                            |
                  SUSTAIN   |   DEFENSE
                  (heal,    |   (HP, DR,
                  lifesteal)|   shield)
                       \    |    /
                         \  |  /
                          \ | /
                           \|/
              SPREAD ------- + ------- UTILITY
              (AoE,         /|\       (luck,
              chain,       / | \       magnet,
              pierce)     /  |  \      time, ether)
                         /   |   \
                        /    |    \
                  MOBILITY   |
                  (move,     |
                  dodge)     |
                             |
                          (filled)

A balanced build looks roughly hexagonal. A specialist build looks like a spike or wedge.

Per-ring contribution table (build-time data)

Each of the 30 standard rings contributes to one or more axes. Suggested values (0–5 per axis per ring, all from gameplay intent):

Note: these values are suggested. Final tuning happens once we have playtest data.

Where the chart lives in the UI

Inventory screen

The chart sits in the bottom-right quadrant of the inventory screen, below the right hand. Approximate size: 200×200pt. Updates live as the player adds/moves/removes rings.

In-combat HUD (optional)

A minified version (60×60pt, in top-left HUD) shows the radar as a faint silhouette, so the player can glance at their build profile mid-combat. Disabled by default; opt-in via settings.

Stance & ring-level effect on chart

The chart shows effective power, not raw count:

• Level-2 ring contributes 1.5× its base score.
• Level-3 = 2.0×.
• Level-4 = 2.75×.
• Level-5 = 4.0×.
• Stance multipliers apply per-axis. (E.g., Open Palm boosts Shield/Reflect →

the Defense axis is multiplied by 1.5× in Open Palm.)

This means the chart shape changes when you cycle stances, even with the same rings — a great visualization of how stances fundamentally re-shape your build.

Portal gating

Some dimension portals require minimum threshold on a specific axis, not just total power:

The radar chart highlights the required axis in red when below threshold, giving the player a clear next goal: "I need more Sustain to enter Spirit Vale."

Visual design

• 6 axes labelled in clockwise order: OFFENSE (top), DEFENSE, UTILITY (right),

SUSTAIN (bottom-right), SPREAD (bottom-left), MOBILITY (left).

• Background grid: 5 concentric hexagons at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25.
• Build polygon: semi-transparent fill, solid stroke, accent color per stance.
• Comparison overlay (long-press): faint previous-build polygon shown for

comparison.

(Image #1's overlapping country shapes is the visual mood we want — colorful, overlapping, "shape of a thing" expressive.)

Implementation note (Xcode)

SwiftUI Path drawing with 6 control points; recompute when state changes. Animate transitions with withAnimation(.spring()) for satisfying re-shaping when rings are placed.