Karvansara

Overview

Karvansara opens with a letter from your grandfather and the key to an abandoned caravanserai in the middle of the desert. You restore the gate and courtyard, the rooms, the stable, the cistern and the teahouse one by one, hire stewards so the place runs without you, and move stop by stop along the Silk Road: Maranjab, Zein-o-din in Yazd, Robat Sharaf, Madarshah in Isfahan, Saad-al-Saltaneh in Qazvin, Saray-e Amir in Tabriz, Kohneh Robat in Esfarayen and a nameless caravanserai deep in the desert.

I built the seventh stop for my hometown: Kohneh Robat, next to the Belqeis citadel in Esfarayen. When you move away from your city, you have to take it with you somehow.

I made the game at night after work, with Godot and GDScript. The sky follows the phone's real clock through morning, sunset and night, all music and sound effects are synthesised in code, the economy was tuned with a simulator, and I wrote the Android plugin in Kotlin for Bazaar and Myket in-app purchases and Tapsell and Adivery ads. The Android version is live on Cafe Bazaar and Myket.

Highlights

• Eight stops on the Silk Road, from Maranjab near Kashan to Kohneh Robat in Esfarayen
• Day and night follow the phone's real clock, with starry skies and shooting stars
• All music and sound synthesised in code
• Offline income and stewards — the caravanserai keeps running without you
• Travellers' letters, an album of trade goods, Hafez fortunes and haggling with merchants
• Zangooleh, a camel companion to look after
• Free and mostly offline; live on Cafe Bazaar and Myket