Sancticide
Role
UI/UX Team Lead
Type
PC
Tools
Figma, Unreal Engine 5
Duration
Full production cycle
Setting & Scope
Sancticide is a dark post-apocalyptic fantasy RPG for PC, adapted from Michał Gołkowski's "Komornik" novels. It's set in a world on the brink of annihilation. My job as UI/UX Team Lead was to take that existing world and turn it into a working interface, leading the team from early exploration to production-ready assets in Unreal Engine 5.
Constraints & Complexity
Adapting an existing literary IP has its own challenges. The visual language had to feel like it belonged to a world readers already knew from the books, while making sense under gameplay conditions. Sancticide is also mechanically dense (skill trees, inventory, quest tracking, combat HUD) and all of it had to hold together as one coherent system.
Process & Execution
I started with reference work to build moodboards and held alignment sessions with the Art Director to land on a shared tone. Once we agreed on "dark, ornate, weathered", I moved onto wireframing core player flows and led design on every primary system: health and stamina, skill trees, inventory, quest logs, and map overlays. I also prepared and optimized 2D assets for Unreal Engine 5 and ran cross-functional syncs with developers, 3D artists, and narrative designers.
Visual Language & Typography
The UI runs on a dark palette (near-black panels, worn leather browns, and stone greys, with gold and amber accents), which aids to the world flavor. Typography leans serif and ornate to resemble an illuminated manuscript. Iconography stays tactile: swords, axes, parchment-style borders.
MAP
ABILITY WHEEL
A Costly Lesson
Sancticide didn't land well at launch. The game's mechanics needed more polish than the studio's timeline and resources could support. It was a hard outcome to sit with, given how much work and time the whole team put into it. But it was also one of the more useful lessons of my career. Sometimes ambition outpaces capacity.
UI/UX TEAM LEAD AT RED SQUARE GAMES
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