Remember sitting in class, ignoring the teacher, and doodling elaborate battles in the margins of your notebook? Stick figures fighting tanks, helicopters dropping bombs on enemy bases, explosions carefully shaded in with pen. Squared Notebook Fight from Printed Cicada Games takes that universal childhood experience and transforms it into a full-fledged bullet hell roguelite. Every visual element looks like hand-drawn doodles on graph paper, complete with the lined backgrounds and casual sketch aesthetic. Best of all, you can actually draw your own character directly in the game, turning your creative impulses into the hero facing down waves of notebook enemies in chaotic 10-minute runs.
Classroom Doodling as Game Design
Squared Notebook Fight commits completely to its notebook aesthetic. The entire game takes place on what appears to be pages from a student’s composition book, complete with blue ruled lines and graph paper squares. Enemies look like quick pen sketches, the kind of drawings you’d absentmindedly create during a boring lecture. Your character, weapons, projectiles, and environmental hazards all share this hand-drawn quality that immediately evokes nostalgia for simpler times when creativity meant defacing school supplies.
This visual approach serves multiple purposes beyond just aesthetic uniqueness. The hand-drawn style allows indie developer Printed Cicada Games to create tons of content without requiring advanced 3D modeling or pixel art expertise. It’s artistically distinctive in a crowded indie space where countless games compete for attention with polished graphics. Most importantly, it establishes an immediate emotional connection with anyone who spent their school years filling notebooks with imaginative battle scenes instead of notes.
The graph paper background isn’t just decoration either. The grid lines provide spatial reference that helps with precise movement in the twin-stick shooter chaos. You can judge distances and angles more accurately when there’s a consistent visual grid underlying everything. This subtle design choice shows Printed Cicada Games understands how form can serve function even in stylized presentation.
Draw Your Own Hero
The standout feature that elevates Squared Notebook Fight beyond visual novelty is character customization through drawing. The game includes tools that let you literally draw your own hero using in-game creation systems. This isn’t just picking from preset options or adjusting sliders. You’re actively creating the visual appearance of your character with drawing implements, bringing your personal artistic vision to life in playable form.
This feature transforms the game from passive consumption into active creation. Every player’s hero looks different because every player draws differently. Some might create elaborate designs with careful attention to detail. Others embrace minimalist stick figures or abstract shapes. The game doesn’t judge artistic quality, it simply brings your creation to life and throws it into bullet hell chaos. There’s something deeply satisfying about surviving intense combat encounters with a character you personally designed.
The drawing mechanic also creates emergent storytelling. Players form attachments to characters they created themselves more strongly than preset avatars. When your hand-drawn hero survives a particularly brutal wave or finally defeats a challenging run, it feels more personal because that character exists nowhere else in the world. You made them, and they succeeded because of your skill combined with your creativity.
Bullet Hell Meets Twin-Stick Action
Squared Notebook Fight combines bullet hell difficulty with twin-stick shooter controls. One analog stick or WASD controls movement while the other stick or mouse aims and fires your weapons. Enemies swarm from all directions, filling the screen with projectiles that demand constant awareness and precise dodging. The action is relentless, with barely a moment to breathe as new threats appear to replace defeated foes.
Each run lasts approximately 10 minutes, creating perfect bite-sized gameplay sessions. This duration hits the sweet spot where runs feel substantial enough to be satisfying but short enough to encourage immediate retries after death. You’re never trapped in a failing run for an hour, and successful runs don’t demand excessive time commitment. The format works perfectly for both quick gaming sessions and extended marathons where you chain multiple attempts back-to-back.
The twin-stick shooter format emphasizes constant movement and spatial awareness. Standing still equals death as projectiles converge on your position. You need to weave through bullet patterns while simultaneously maintaining offensive pressure on enemies. The gameplay loop rewards multitasking ability and creates that flow state where everything clicks and you’re perfectly navigating chaos that would have seemed impossible minutes earlier.
Roguelite Progression That Matters
Squared Notebook Fight incorporates roguelite elements that provide meaningful progression between runs. As you survive waves and defeat enemies, you collect ink currency that persists even after death. This ink can be spent on permanent upgrades that make future attempts more forgiving. Extra health, improved damage, faster movement speed, and other enhancements gradually tilt odds in your favor as you invest accumulated resources.
This meta-progression system solves one of bullet hell’s most frustrating aspects: the barrier to entry. Pure bullet hell games demand either exceptional skill or endless patience to overcome brutal difficulty. Roguelite progression provides an alternative path where persistence pays off through incremental power increases. You’re still improving your own skills with each attempt, but upgrades ensure you’re not forever stuck at the same failure point.
The ink currency also creates meaningful choices about resource allocation. Do you invest heavily in health to survive longer during learning phases? Perhaps you prioritize damage upgrades to clear waves faster before they overwhelm you. Maybe movement speed helps you dodge more effectively. These decisions let players customize their approach based on personal playstyle and what aspects they find most challenging.
Fast-Paced Without Being Overwhelming
Despite the bullet hell label, Squared Notebook Fight aims for accessible challenge rather than masochistic difficulty. The hand-drawn aesthetic creates visual clarity where projectiles and enemies remain distinguishable even during intense action. You’re not squinting at particle effects trying to identify threats. Everything communicates clearly through strong silhouettes and distinct designs.
The 10-minute run structure also prevents exhaustion that plagues longer bullet hell experiences. Games that demand 30-60 minute runs before meaningful progress create fatigue where even skilled players lose focus and make mistakes. Shorter runs maintain tension and concentration without pushing players past their attention limits. This pacing decision opens the genre to audiences who love the challenge but can’t commit hours to individual attempts.
Why Notebook Aesthetics Work
The classroom doodle aesthetic taps into universal experiences regardless of age or background. Almost everyone spent time in school drawing when they should have been listening. Those drawings represented creativity constrained by boredom, imagination trying to escape monotony. Squared Notebook Fight validates those childhood impulses by transforming them into legitimate gameplay.
There’s also inherent charm in the imperfect nature of hand-drawn art. Polished, professional graphics can feel sterile and corporate. Hand-drawn visuals feel personal and human. They communicate that real people made this game with passion rather than calculating profit margins. In an industry increasingly dominated by massive studios and live service models, that handcrafted quality stands out as refreshingly genuine.
The notebook setting creates instant recognizability. You don’t need elaborate world-building or exposition to understand the context. It’s a notebook. You’ve used notebooks. This familiarity lowers psychological barriers to entry, making the game feel immediately approachable rather than requiring you to learn new fictional universes before understanding what’s happening.
Indie Development With Heart
Printed Cicada Games is developing Squared Notebook Fight as an indie passion project. The studio’s commitment to the unique concept shows in every design decision. This isn’t a game chasing trends or trying to replicate successful formulas. It’s a creative vision executed with clear purpose and personality. The game is currently playable through an alpha build on itch.io, demonstrating the developers’ willingness to share early versions and gather community feedback.
The Steam page lists the game as coming soon with no announced release date, suggesting Printed Cicada Games prioritizes quality over rushing to market. This patient approach lets them refine mechanics, expand content, and ensure the final product lives up to their creative vision. Early access or alpha builds invite players into the development process, building a community around the game before official launch.
The decision to make an alpha build playable in browsers without downloads shows accessibility consciousness. Interested players can try the game immediately without installation friction or storage concerns. This low-barrier entry point helps build word-of-mouth as people can easily share links with friends who can play instantly. For an indie studio without marketing budgets, these grassroots discovery methods matter immensely.
What Makes It Work
Squared Notebook Fight succeeds by combining familiar gameplay with distinctive presentation. Twin-stick bullet hell shooters exist by the dozens. Roguelites are everywhere. Drawing tools in games aren’t unprecedented. But the specific combination of these elements wrapped in nostalgic notebook aesthetics creates something that feels fresh despite using established mechanics. It’s the execution and cohesive vision that matters.
The drawing mechanic provides meaningful player expression in a genre that often feels impersonal. Most bullet hell games give you a predetermined ship or character with fixed appearance. Being able to create your own hero adds personal investment that strengthens emotional connection to the experience. You’re not just controlling a character, you’re controlling your creation.
The 10-minute run structure respects player time while maintaining challenge. Modern gamers juggle responsibilities that don’t always allow hour-long gaming sessions. Bite-sized runs fit into lunch breaks, commutes, or quick evening relaxation without demanding major time commitments. This accessibility broadens potential audiences beyond hardcore gamers willing to dedicate entire evenings to single runs.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Squared Notebook Fight release?
No official release date has been announced. The game is listed as coming soon on Steam, with an alpha build currently playable on itch.io.
What platforms will Squared Notebook Fight be available on?
The game is confirmed for PC via Steam. The alpha build is playable in web browsers without downloads through itch.io.
Who is developing Squared Notebook Fight?
Printed Cicada Games, an indie studio, is developing Squared Notebook Fight using Unity engine.
Can you really draw your own character?
Yes. The game includes character creation tools that let you draw your own hero using in-game drawing implements, bringing your personal designs to life in playable form.
How long does each run last?
Individual runs last approximately 10 minutes, creating bite-sized gameplay sessions perfect for quick gaming or extended marathon play.
What is the ink currency system?
Ink is persistent currency collected during runs that survives death. You can spend ink on permanent upgrades like extra health, improved damage, and enhanced abilities that make future runs more manageable.
Is it only bullet hell or are there other gameplay elements?
Squared Notebook Fight combines bullet hell intensity with twin-stick shooter controls and roguelite meta-progression, creating a hybrid experience that blends multiple genre elements.
Do you need artistic skill to enjoy the drawing feature?
No. The game doesn’t judge artistic quality. Simple stick figures work just as well as elaborate designs, the feature is about personal expression rather than technical drawing ability.
Can you play the game right now?
Yes. An alpha build is playable in web browsers through itch.io without requiring downloads. The experience is in active development with the full version coming to Steam.
Is it a difficult game?
Squared Notebook Fight aims for accessible challenge rather than extreme difficulty. The roguelite progression system lets you gradually increase power through permanent upgrades, making the game more forgiving as you invest time.
Final Thoughts
Squared Notebook Fight transforms universal childhood experiences into compelling gameplay. Everyone who attended school knows the specific boredom that leads to notebook doodling. Those margins filled with stick figure battles, tanks, explosions, and imaginative combat scenarios represented creativity struggling against monotony. Printed Cicada Games recognized that nostalgic foundation and built an entire game around it, complete with the ability to draw your own hero just like you used to draw in class.
The combination of bullet hell challenge, twin-stick shooting, roguelite progression, and hand-drawn aesthetics creates something distinctive in a crowded indie market. Yes, each individual element exists in other games. But the specific combination wrapped in notebook paper presentation feels fresh and personal in ways polished, professional games often miss. There’s genuine charm in the imperfect hand-drawn quality that communicates human creativity rather than corporate calculation.
What makes Squared Notebook Fight special is how it validates childhood impulses many of us were told to suppress. Drawing in class was considered distraction, wasting time on frivolous creativity instead of focusing on education. This game says those impulses weren’t wrong, they were artistic expression waiting for the right outlet. Now that outlet exists, letting you transform classroom doodles into playable characters fighting through bullet hell chaos on graph paper battlefields.
For players seeking something different from the endless parade of polished AAA releases and derivative indie titles, Squared Notebook Fight offers genuine creativity. The alpha build is playable right now in browsers through itch.io, letting you experience the concept immediately. Wishlist the game on Steam to follow development toward the eventual full release. Support indie developers willing to take creative risks and chase unique visions rather than chasing trends or playing it safe.
Sometimes the best games come from asking simple questions: what if childhood boredom doodles became a real game? What if you could draw your own hero? What if notebook paper was a battlefield? Printed Cicada Games asked those questions and built Squared Notebook Fight as the answer. Whether you fondly remember filling notebook margins with elaborate battles or you’re just curious about a bullet hell roguelite with hand-drawn aesthetics and character creation, this indie deserves attention. Give the browser demo a try, and rediscover the joy of classroom creativity without the risk of detention.