Exarth Case Study · Unity Game

Black Forest 2D Survival Horror Game

Unity survival horror: keep your torch lit, feed the fire, survive the forest.

Exarth designed and built Black Forest, a 2D top-down dark-fantasy survival horror game in Unity for Android. Your torch is the only light, your campfire is the only safety, and the forest fills with shadows the moment either one dies.

Torch-lit line of sight
Campfire survival loop
Shadow enemies & score runs
Hand-painted dark fantasy art

Survival Horror
Design + Build
Unity

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Black Forest screens, main menu, campfire, torchlight and graveyard

Survival HorrorDesign + Build

Survival Horror2D · Top-down · Unity

BFX+

Endless NightScore-run loop

A+

AtmosphereOperational

Campfire fadingFind wood · fast

A complete mobile game, art, systems, UI and build, shipped by Exarth.

2DTop-down

UnityEngine

AndroidPlatform

EndlessScore runs

Overview/ 01

A forest that punishes the dark

Top-down survival horror: torchlight, a dying campfire and shadows in the dark.Black Forest is a 2D top-down survival horror game for Android. You wake in a cursed forest with a torch and an axe. The torch shows you a narrow cone of the world, the campfire keeps the shadows back, and both are always burning down.

Exarth built the game end to end in Unity, hand-painted top-down environments, the torch and campfire fuel systems, enemy AI, touch controls, the full menu and pause UI, and the score-run death loop, into a tense, atmospheric mobile horror experience.

Torch-cone visibility system
Dual fuel survival loop

Torch-cone visibility system
Dual fuel survival loop
Shadow enemy encounters
Full menu, pause & options UI

Role: Design + Development
Genre: Survival Horror
Timeline: 3 months
Engine: Unity 2D
Role: Design + Development
Genre: Survival Horror
Timeline: 3 months
Engine: Unity 2D
Platform: Android
Year: 2026

UnityEngine

Scope & deliverables

Game Design
Art & Atmosphere
Unity Build
Mobile Optimisation

Game Design

Core loop, fuel economy, enemy pacing and score rules.

Art & Atmosphere

Hand-painted top-down forest, lighting and fog.

Unity Build

Torch lighting, AI, touch controls and game states.

Mobile Optimisation

Landscape UI, performance tuning and Android build.

Challenge & solution

A dark screen, or real, earned dread

Make darkness genuinely frightening on a small landscape screen, without making the game unreadable, unfair or frustrating to control.

Unreadable dark
No real stakes
Fiddly touch input

0Tension

FlatHorror

✕

Light · Visibility

Flat darkness: A simply dark screen reads as broken, not scary, and players cannot tell where to go.

✕

Tension · Pressure

No stakes: Without a countdown, exploring the forest carried no risk and the horror fell flat.

✕

Enemies · Threat

Static props: Static hazards were easy to memorise and stopped being frightening after one run.

No core

No shared platform

Fragmented systems

Dark screen · No dread

0TensionFlatHorror

✕

Controls · Input

Fiddly touch: Touch controls fought the player and cost runs for the wrong reasons.

✕

Loop · Replay

One and done: Without a reason to retry, players quit the moment they died the first time.

✕

Mood · Art

Generic assets: Stock art gave the forest no identity and none of the intended dread.

Measurable impact on the live platform

2Fuel bars

TorchLine of sight

AIShadows

ScoreRun loop

Key features

Every system built to keep you afraid

Torchlight, campfire fuel, shadow enemies and score-run restarts.From the torch cone and campfire fuel to shadow enemies, wood gathering and the score-run death screen, every system feeds the same loop of dread.

01/05 features

Tap a product

Auto-playing. Hover to pause

Torchlight Vision

The torch casts a narrow cone that is the only reliable way to read the forest, and its fuel is always draining.

ConeLine of sight

Feature 01Torchlight VisionThe torch casts a narrow cone that is the only reliable way to read the forest, and its fuel is always draining.

Engineering

Technology & Build

Unity 2D build with custom lighting, enemy AI, touch controls and game states.Built in Unity with the 2D renderer, custom torch lighting, state-driven enemy AI, touch controls and a full game-state stack from menu to death screen.

Lighting LayerLIGHTTorch cone, campfire glow, fog of war and ember particles01
Survival SystemsLOOPTorch fuel, campfire fuel, wood gathering and health02
Enemy AIAIState-driven shadow wraiths that hunt outside the light03
Game StatesFLOWMenu, loading, play, pause, options and death screens04

01Concept & LoopDefined the torch, campfire and dread-driven core loop.Phase 1
02Art DirectionHand-painted the forest, graves, fog and ember lighting.Phase 2
03Unity BuildBuilt lighting, fuel systems, enemy AI and touch controls.Phase 3
04BalancingTuned fuel drain, enemy pacing and score curves.Phase 4
05QA & DevicesTested runs, performance and UI across Android devices.Phase 5
06Build & ShipShipped the Android build and iterated on difficulty.Live

Stack

Unity
C#
URP 2D
Torch System
Fuel Economy
Enemy AI
Hand-painted
Particles
Fog & Light
Android Build
Landscape UI
Performance

System architecture

Player input → Unity 2D → lighting & AI → survival loop

Live

LIGHT

Lighting LayerTorch cone, campfire glow, fog of war and ember particles

URP 2D

LOOP

Survival SystemsTorch fuel, campfire fuel, wood gathering and health

Dual fuel

AI

Enemy AIState-driven shadow wraiths that hunt outside the light

Hunt · ambush

FLOW

Game StatesMenu, loading, play, pause, options and death screens

Full stack

How we built it

6-phase delivery

01
Concept & Loop
Phase 1
Defined the torch, campfire and dread-driven core loop.
02
Art Direction
Phase 2
Hand-painted the forest, graves, fog and ember lighting.
03
Unity Build
Phase 3
Built lighting, fuel systems, enemy AI and touch controls.
04
Balancing
Phase 4
Tuned fuel drain, enemy pacing and score curves.
05
QA & Devices
Phase 5
Tested runs, performance and UI across Android devices.
06
Build & Ship
Live
Shipped the Android build and iterated on difficulty.

Technology stack

16 technologies

Engine4

Unity2D
C#Gameplay
URP 2DLighting
Tilemaps

Gameplay4

Torch System
Fuel Economy
Enemy AIStates
Touch Input

Art & Audio4

Hand-painted2D art
ParticlesEmbers
Fog & Light
Ambient SFX

Ops4

Android Build
Landscape UI
Performance60fps
Save State

Game Screens

The whole night, one forest

Browse the menu, campfire, torchlight, graveyard and death screen.Glide through Black Forest, main menu, loading, campfire, torchlight, the graveyard, shadow hunts, pause, options and the death screen.

Drag to explore01 / 13

Philosophy

Design Approach

Atmosphere-first game design where light is the mechanic and scarcity is the tension.An atmosphere-first design philosophy where light is the mechanic, scarcity is the tension, and every UI element is carved from the world itself.

DarkTenseReadableHandcrafted

Design pillars: 04
Fuel systems: 2
Engine: Unity

Audience: Horror & survival fans
Engine: Unity 2D
Art style: Hand-painted dark fantasy
Format: Landscape mobile

Every system points the same way, the light is always dying, the forest is always watching, and safety always costs another trip into the dark.

Light As MechanicThe torch cone is both the camera and the clock, so seeing costs fuel.Cone
Scarcity Builds DreadTwo draining fuel bars keep players moving when they want to hide.2
Thumb-First ControlsJoystick left, torch and axe right, nothing between player and reaction.2-thumb
Handcrafted WorldPainted trees, carved wooden UI and ember particles that share one language.100%

Light As Mechanic
ConeVision
The torch cone is both the camera and the clock, so seeing costs fuel.
Darkness becomes a rule players respect, not a flaw.
Core loop
Scarcity Builds Dread
2Fuel bars
Two draining fuel bars keep players moving when they want to hide.
Every safe moment carries a countdown.
Tension
Thumb-First Controls
2-thumbLayout
Joystick left, torch and axe right, nothing between player and reaction.
Deaths feel earned, never blamed on the controls.
Readable
Handcrafted World
100%Hand-painted
Painted trees, carved wooden UI and ember particles that share one language.
The forest feels like a place, not a level.
Craft

Tokens

Design System

One dark-fantasy visual language across menus, HUD and gameplay.An ember-and-charcoal visual language that keeps every screen dark, warm and readable.

5Colors

6Type sizes

5Spacing

8Icons

4Breakpoints