We’re thrilled to be spotlighting a great game made using Synty – Death Scourges! Developed and published by Phase Vault and released on Steam in March 2026. Behind Phase Vault is 26 year old solo indie developer Tobias, based in Germany.
Tobias began teaching himself game development during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and says the early years were rough. “I built small projects, mostly game jam titles, to understand scope, UI, VFX, and how to actually finish games. I used Synty assets to bring these projects to life including Bloodpit Trials, and KEPLER 1708.” In early 2022, he completed a fan game for his favourite band, committing to something bigger with Death Scourges shortly after.
Development of Death Scourges
Development began in the summer of 2022 and continued over nearly four years, eventually releasing in March of 2026. The inspiration for Death Scourges came from Tobias’ lifelong love of shooter games, and a deep dive into the Resident Evil series as a teenager. At its core, the game concept is simple; a specialized strike team enters a compromised facility and fights their way through to stabilize the situation. Underneath sits a clear appeal; just a handful of highly trained operators pushed against overwhelming, primitive threats. That tension and the power fantasy behind it drive the experience.
Before development began on Death Scourges, Tobias knew he wanted to use Synty’s 3D art assets. “For indie developers, they are one of the few providers offering a consistent art style across a wide range of themed packs. The variety of props, weapons, vehicles, and environments gave me strong leverage early on. At the same time, I did not want the typical flat-shaded low-poly look.”
Check out one of Tobias’ early devlogs on YouTube to hear more about his initial plans for the game, and to see some of early work in progress footage.
Establishing a Unique Look and Feel
However, he also knew it was important to establish a unique look and tone for the game, to have it stand out in the hearts and minds of players. “The tone of the game demanded something darker, more oppressive, and more grounded. Finding that direction took time. What I landed on is something I call ‘LoFi Realism’ which combines simplified low-poly geometry with more detailed surface treatment. Normal maps, layered procedural noise, and controlled material breakup are used to reduce the inherent flatness of low-poly assets.”
Tobias also knew that lighting would play a major role in the personality of the game. “There is almost no ambient light. The game relies heavily on dynamic lighting, creating strong contrast and deeper shadows. Aggressive post-processing ties everything together and reinforces the atmosphere.”
Thinking Outside the Box
On the animation side, Synty’s packs also stood out in quality compared to most alternatives Tobias had seen. The player character and AI teammates in Death Scourges use Synty’s ANIMATION - Base Locomotion set, while the main zombie enemies are driven by the ANIMATION - Goblin Locomotion animations. According to Tobias, the more primitive motion style of the goblin animation set fits the infected characters particularly well, which is a great example of thinking outside the box when using assets in your projects!
Vegetation was especially important for the forest intro of Death Scourges. “Synty’s stylized, nature biomes foliage helped avoid the typical low-poly look and added density and variation without breaking performance. The wind sway shader especially came in handy!”
Mix and Match
While Tobias leveraged assets in many facets of the project, the need to model a specific asset himself occasionally arose, and he celebrates learning some 3D modeling as part of the process of creating Death Scourges.
As this development diary would suggest, Tobias has definitely built up a large library of Synty assets over time, which he stresses is now a critical part of his development process. “At this point, I own most of their major packs. That was a deliberate investment. It gives me a consistent visual foundation and a broad asset pool I can draw from without friction.”
One of the best ways to work with assets in your project is to mix and match, creating something unique for your specific game. “For Death Scourges, I focused primarily on POLYGON military, zombie, and apocalyptic themed packs to match the industrial and contaminated setting. To bring the underground facility to life, I supplemented these with modern civilian packs such as POLYGON Office, Shops, and Town. Packs like Street Racer were also particularly useful for industrial props and machinery.” Taking the time to think outside the box with assets can yield some really interesting and unique results!
“By the end of development, I had integrated over 35 POLYGON packs into a unified asset database. This allowed me to quickly assemble environments, iterate faster, and maintain visual consistency across the entire project.”
Advice for Fellow Indie Developers
Tobias took the time to share some insight and advice for tackling larger game projects for any fellow indie developers reading:
“The most common advice is to start very small, and I strongly agree. Game development is complex and easier to approach step by step.
One principle that helped me a lot is ‘divide and conquer.’ Larger features are broken down into smaller, manageable tasks until each step is clear and actionable. If something still feels unclear, it usually means the task needs further breakdown.
I pair this with simple to-do lists. Not just for tracking progress, but to maintain clarity on what to focus on next. It helps avoid situations where you open your game engine without a clear direction or goal. A lot of productivity can be lost in those moments of uncertainty. Having defined tasks makes it easier to stay focused and move forward consistently.
After four years working on Death Scourges, I think that proper planning plays a bigger role than the process of development itself. It provides structure and helps turn larger ideas into steady, achievable progress. It also helps you identify flaws in your technical architecture or game design.
Special thanks to Synty Studios for providing coherent, high-quality, and affordable asset packs that make it possible for solo developers and small teams to build consistently styled projects. I can confidently say that assets from Synty Studios will be powering my future projects as well.”
If you enjoyed this spotlight on Death Scourges, then we think you’d enjoy being part of the Synty community! We love sharing the game dev journey with thousands of experienced and aspiring developers on Discord, Instagram, X, Reddit, Bluesky, and Facebook. You can also check out all our previous Made with Synty blogs for more dev interviews!
