During the development of our side-strafing game, we encountered several challenges that tested our skills and perseverance. These challenges included:

1. Game Mechanics: Designing and implementing smooth and responsive side-strafing mechanics proved to be a complex task. Ensuring the player's movement felt natural and intuitive while maintaining precision required careful iteration and tweaking.

2. Level Design: Crafting engaging mazes and story-based battlegrounds presented its own set of challenges. We had to strike a balance between difficulty and enjoyment, creating levels that were challenging enough to be engaging but not overly frustrating.

3. Narrative Integration: For the story-based battleground game, seamlessly integrating the narrative elements with the action-packed gameplay posed a significant challenge. We wanted players to feel immersed in the story while also delivering exciting gameplay moments.

4. Bug Squashing: As with any game development project, we encountered various bugs and glitches along the way. Debugging and optimizing the game to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience for players required dedicated effort and thorough testing.

5. Player Engagement: Ensuring that both game options remained captivating and retained players' interest throughout the experience was a continuous challenge. We had to continually refine and enhance gameplay elements, add exciting features, and create meaningful rewards to keep players engaged and motivated.

Despite these challenges, we persevered and overcame them to create a side-strafing game that offers thrilling adventures and captivating gameplay experiences for players to enjoy.