For the past few months I’ve been working alongside an incredible team at Champlain College on our senior capstone project, and I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve built so far.

The game is called Chyma and the Toll of Time.

Chyma and the Toll of Time title screen

Take on the role of Chyma, a charming little bell, in an isometric puzzle-platformer built around a dynamic sound system. The core mechanic lets you create a reverb — a recorded echo of your movements that plays back in real time, allowing you to exist in two places at once. Combined with a variety of environmental mechanics and enemies, you’ll guide Chyma through an abandoned temple, collecting scattered music notes to perform the legendary Toll of Time.

Chyma gameplay screenshot

My Role — Lead Programmer⌗

As lead programmer, my responsibilities have spanned a few different areas:

  • AI Systems — designing and building the behavior for the game’s three enemy types
  • Lighting System — building out the dynamic lighting that brings the temple environments to life
  • Shader Work — creating the custom shader used for the shadows as well as the “cutout” effect
Chyma reverb mechanic

It’s been a huge learning experience leading the programming side of a full team project — coordinating with designers and artists, making technical decisions that affect the whole game, and pushing through challenges I’d never faced before.

The game is actively in development, with a final build set to release in May 2026 on Steam and itch.io. I’m incredibly proud of what the team has accomplished and can’t wait to share the finished product.

Stay tuned!