Portfolio
Warhammer 40,000: Grimdark Racing is a kart racer inspired by the Warhammer 40,000 universe, developed as the final project of my second year at university. The game pits iconic Warhammer factions of Ultramarines and World Eaters against each other on a custom race track set in the grim darkness of the far future.
Working within a team, I focused on gameplay, level and UX design, crafting the track layout, designing the weapon pickups to ensure each felt distinct both visually and mechanically.
The project required balancing deep Warhammer lore with accessible kart-racing gameplay, making design decisions that honoured the source material while remaining fun for players unfamiliar with the universe.
Team Credits :
Humza Mustafa - Game Designer, Kye Takeuchi-Brown - Environment and Material Artist, Gihan Akpinar - Art Director Prop and Weapon Artist, Isbah Anzaq - Technical and Lighting Artist, Amanda Szczuka - Environment, Props and Material Artist, Maya Borowiec - Props and Weapon Artist, Jamaal Shaheen - Vehicle and Prop Artist, Lutfi Franco-Pereira - Environment and Prop Artist, Edy Florin - Environment, Technical Artist, Lush Robinson - Foliage Artist
Screenshots
Documentation
Full GDD - Explains the racing and combat mechanics and other tertiary mechanics
A document where we analysed feedback so we could understand the positives and negatives and make a plan on what we would address
A retrospective on what went well, what could've been better and the lessons I've learnt during the project
Behind the Scenes
Our weapon design was built around the push-forward combat philosophy of DOOM 2016, constant aggression, constant engagement, which maps naturally onto the pace of a kart racer. To support that model, every weapon was given a specific role in what we thought of as a combat chess sandbox. The plasma gun handles AOE ranged damage, the chainsword is for up-close 1v1 duelling, the autocannon covers long-range precision. No weapon is redundant, the player has to engage with all of them and choose the right tool for the situation in front of them.
The art director and I are both massive fans of the Warhammer 40K universe, and we saw an opportunity to inject something genuinely different into the kart racer genre. Most kart racers lean into cartoonish, hectic fun, we wanted to build something around visceral combat and the grim darkness of the setting. Warhammer gave us an aesthetic that is the complete opposite of what the genre usually looks like, and that contrast was exactly the point.
For the weapons and environments we drew directly from established Warhammer lore and games, those elements needed to feel authentic to fans of the universe. The vehicles were a different challenge. Rather than recreating something that already exists in the lore, we wanted to design something that felt entirely consistent with the world but was uniquely ours. The karts are not canon Warhammer vehicles, they are original designs that look and feel like they belong there.
© Copyright Humza Mustafa 2026