Blackroot [released]
Published on June 12, 2026
Blackroot is an arena survival game where players fight continuous enemy waves, gain experience, unlock upgrades, and try to survive for as long as possible.
The project was developed as part of a research study exploring how adaptive difficulty systems affect player experience, including challenge, fairness, enjoyment, engagement, and frustration.
Blackroot includes three main difficulty approaches: static difficulty, performance-based difficulty, and struggle-based difficulty. The game also collects gameplay analytics and includes a short post-game survey for research purposes.