Calling developers, all hands on deck!

About the Project The Lost Reels is a first-person, 1-6 player vintage horror puzzle experience inspired by BATIM and Cuphead. Players start in the Prologue Home, a safe, replayable area to decorate rooms, change clothes, and uncover family secrets tied to Inkwell Studios. You inherit the house after your grandmother who raised you disappears. Your grandfather founded the studio in the 1930s, creating Inkwell Dreamland, an amusement park where your little uncle and star aunt disappeared for decades. One day, the Lost Reel arrives, bringing a recording from your grandfather and a ticket to the park. Motivated to find your grandmother, you explore an abandoned and dilapidated garden full of hidden lore.

Players move from the Prologue Home to the Lobby, then take a train to Inkwell Dreamland. The first playable area, Main Street, is shaped like an “I”: a circular center connected to a linear street lined with interconnecting shops, ideal for puzzles and exploration. Roving enemies – corrupt employees dressed in thematic costumes – patrol the streets. Players collect missing reels and fragments that reveal the studio’s history, family secrets, and the events that caused the park’s collapse. Later areas, including the Color Critter Forest, challenge players with hostile creatures, uncorrupted companions, and hidden paths, enhancing replay value.

A resident artist provides illustrations and references for environments, props, puzzles, and enemies, ensuring a consistent creative vision across the team.

Gameplay Features: Replayable home and lobby hubs with secrets and cinematic customization Cinematic cutscenes and ambient horror Puzzle solving and light stealth mechanics Collectible missing balls that reveal parts of the story Companion system with creatures of uncorrupted colors Expanding areas with replay value Dynamic encounters with themed enemies

Monetization Opportunities Room/Furniture Decoration Packs Skins Cosmetics for characters, props, and companions Optional “Lore Pass” to unlock hidden reels and replacement parts Transportation Cosmetics (Variants Train) Seasonal areas, special expansions, and community events

What we need are creators, writers, VFX, sound, QA, animators, staff, marketing, and more! Right now, we’re focusing on the introduction and first chapter, but this is a multi-chapter project, so you may be asked to continue with future work (always paid), check the skills section for required skills. Apply now

DM Zescoria with: Role and Portfolio Link Availability (hours/week) Preferred Pay Model (Revenue Share / Lump Sum / Mixed) Why The Lost Reels excites you / Why you would be a good fit Deadline: November 30, 2025 – Roles are being filled on a rolling basis

Requirements

Ideal worker qualities

Builders: Attention to detail, mobile-optimized environments, flexible puzzle layouts, clean collision, ability to implement secrets and interactive props, collaboration, and adaptability to evolving designs.

Programmers: Efficient and maintainable code; Experience with mechanics, puzzle systems, companion systems, DataStore integration, mobile optimization, debugging, and creative problem solving.

Visual Effects Artists: Atmospheric and thematic effects, low part count, enemy and environment cues, particle effects, lighting effects, ability to match the visual style of the project, collaboration with designers.

Sound Designers: Record and edit VO, music, surround loops, 3D spatial audio, equalization, adaptive gameplay audio, royalty-free sources, and set the mood for horror puzzle experiences.

QA Testing: Optimize mobile/console performance, anti-exploit testing, check playback speed/track, create detailed logs and reproduce videos, proactive in finding bugs, in a systematic and reliable way.

Animators/Riggers: Fluid character and enemy animation, cutscenes, manipulation of different body types and props, attention to movement and timing, and ability to adapt to style and engine limitations.

Marketing/Social: Creating development blogs, trailers, social media campaigns, influencer outreach, community engagement, and understanding audience targeting, in an organized and timely manner.

General Team Skills: Clear communication, collaboration, ability to follow a creative vision, solve problems proactively, adapt to changes, self-motivated and professional.

Lucky Button Studios

Lucky Button Studios is a small, self-funded indie team that creates Inkwell — A hand-crafted horror adventure inspired by the eerie magic of 1930s cartoons. We don’t have a publisher, investors or major funding to back us. Everything we make comes from a shared belief in the project and in the people who build it together.

Because of this, there is no upfront payment. Each team member works voluntarily until the game begins generating income. Once the game starts generating profits, all participants receive a fair written share of what is made.

when Inkwell The sale begins, and thirty percent (30%) of the game’s net monthly revenue – after platform fees, payment processing, and taxes – is allocated to the development team. The remaining seventy percent supports ongoing development, studio costs, and reinvestment in future work.

Each contributor receives a share of the team’s pool through a points system. Points are based on workload, level of contribution and creative impact. Once your work is approved and included in the live game, these points are locked. Payouts are calculated monthly and are released approximately thirty days after each month ends, such as the January dividend payment in early March.

The revenue pool lasts for two full years after launch. Contributors can then choose one of two paths: a one-time lump sum payment, or a permanent royalty percentage that replaces their stake in the pool. This way, each person can decide what suits their needs best once the project has proven itself financially.

There are no upfront payments for development work. However, yet Inkwell Fixed revenues, and shareholders can choose to convert their accumulated share into a single lump sum. This return reflects the full value of your contribution and locks in your participation in the team pool. It is intended for contributors who want to be fully compensated at once once the game is financially stable.

For those who prefer long-term income, you can instead convert your share into an equity percentage after two years of continuous sales. This option offers smaller but ongoing monthly payments directly tied to game performance, with no expiration date. As long as that Inkwell Continue to sell, and you will continue to profit.

Transparency is an essential part of the way we work. Each contributor will have access to a read-only revenue dashboard that displays total sales, platform discounts, and payout calculations. All agreements are written in plain language, digitally signed, and each person receives a personal copy. Payment is made through Payoneer, Wise, or USDC for those who prefer cryptocurrencies.

Lucky Button Studios is designed for slow and steady growth. There is no promise of immediate profit, and no one guarantees income until the game is successful. Everyone who joins knows exactly what they are agreeing to, and every dollar that comes into the team is tracked and visible to the team.

To give an example: if Inkwell Up to ten thousand players spend five dollars each quarter, and a one percent share of the team’s total can bring in about two hundred dollars a month. If this number increases to one hundred thousand players, the same share can reach about two thousand per month. There are no guarantees, but the structure is open and fair.

Lucky Button Studios works on trust, respect and creative collaboration. No one is asked to work for an appearance, and no one is excluded from the success they help build. if it was inkwell; Lost reels are sold, and everyone earns a share of that success – clearly, fairly and in writing. Until then, we’ll build it together.

https://www.indiedb.com/jobs/dev-call-all-hands-on-deck