The Secret of Kavaledurga

The mission

No game on India?

Not quite.

The early Tomb Raider games of the 1990s featured Indian jungles, tigers, and even music inspired by Indian instruments such as the sitar. But India was largely presented as an exotic backdrop rather than as a place rooted in its own history, architecture, and stories.

Our interest lay in recreating real places and drawing inspiration from historical events, local traditions, and lesser-known narratives.

That led us to a hill fort in Karnataka, nestled within the Western Ghats. Surrounded by hidden ruins and layered with archaeological remains, local legends, and historical accounts, it offered the perfect foundation on which to build our story.

Our story

How we got here

Actively built in Unreal Engine, with a story rooted in over a decade of research.

2010 onward

The site & the story

That was when we chose the site of Kavaledurga, conceived the game's story, and wrote its first chapter, drawing on years of heritage documentation and archaeological exploration across India.

2020 →

Building in Unreal Engine

The project moved from its earlier CryEngine roots into Unreal Engine — asset creation, level design, gameplay systems, scripting and programming all began in earnest. Nikhil joined Devesh on the build.

Now

Active development

Two-person team, regular builds, new environments and short dev clips posted as the world comes together.

How we did it

Source and asset creation

Through our work with Idam Heritage, we have gained extensive experience in heritage documentation. As architects, creating drawings and 3D models is a regular part of our practice, making the transition to game asset creation a natural one.

In engine · Unreal

Actual site

Actual site — Kavaledurga fort

In engine · Unreal

Actual site

Actual site — Western Ghats jungle

In engine · Unreal

Actual site

Actual site — village in Karnataka

In engine · Unreal

Actual site

In engine · Unreal

Actual site

In engine · Unreal

Actual site

Many of our assets begin as architectural drawings in progeCAD, are developed and refined in Blender, and ultimately find their place within the game engine.

Story and research
Our documentation work often led us to explore the histories and stories behind the places we documented. Along the way, we encountered many regional narratives, including lesser-known and forgotten tales. These provide a rich source of inspiration and form the foundation of our game's story.

Dev log

Building the game, bit by bit

Each post is one piece of the puzzle — how we build the environments, water, materials and mood of the Western Ghats.

The hilltop shrine emerges from morning fog, just visible through the canopy

Recreating the Shiva Temple at Kavaledurga hill in CryEngine

Some places hold their mystery so tightly that Recreating them in a game feels less like level design and more…

Aerial view of two teams clashing near fortress walls

Building a Melee and Mounted combat system

We’ve been putting together a combat system where two teams can face off — think Melee soldiers, Mounted archers, foot…

Interactive water

Water adds beauty to a scene, in whatever form it may be. A pond with lilies, a lake with reeds…

The people

Who are we?

Architects. Yes 🙂

We are architects by education and profession.

Devesh

Game Developer

An architect by education and training, Devesh has spent years working across 3D visualization, level design, gameplay systems, mechanics, and programming. He spent years developing the project in CryEngine before recently migrating it to Unreal Engine, with Nikhil now gradually contributing to its development.

Nikhil

Design Lead

Nikhil leads the studio's work in UI/UX design, systems, and research. His practice spans interface design, heritage documentation, and interactive development, with a focus on structuring complex ideas into clear, usable systems. He works across projects from early definition to final resolution, shaping both direction and execution.

We are based in Bangalore (Bengaluru). While the studio is located here, we work remotely as well. Devesh works from Delhi, while Nikhil operates from our home base.

Work in progress · Follow the game