Out of the Box
Designer and Programmer
Screenshots
Overview
For this particular project, our team was tasked with making a 3D game and we decided to take it into the direction of a satirical puzzle game. The game features the player opening up a maddening number of lootboxes full of useless junk in an attempt to find the rare useful item that will help them escape the factory they are trapped in. The game is intended to be both comedic and comes with some interesting platforming and spatial puzzles. There is also a light combat element where the player has to strike down zombie lootboxes with a boomerang key (obviously).
Contributions
I designed all of the items and levels for this game. I also created all of the levels using the tools provided by the Unity game engine as well as programming some of the functionality of the various useful items. I tried to make each item have a unique purpose and provide a different gameplay mechanic for the player to interact with. For example, the magnet can be used to pull metal lootboxes towards the player while the key boomerang can be used to attack and destroy zombie lootboxes. I tried to use the items in different ways in order to give the player more varied gameplay (shown below).
I also did the level design for the game which was interesting as I had no experience designing 3D levels prior to working on this game. I tried to lay out the level in an increasingly difficult manner in order to slowly teach the player the game’s mechanics. The player starts with just the ability to place down and pick up lootboxes and this allows them to climb over a short wall at the start. This then becomes more challenging as the player gets items which introduce new mechanics and allow access to more lootboxes which can be used to help the player climb over increasingly tall walls. Once the player has acquired all of the items, they are then left to their own devices in a labyrinth which contains many lootboxes. The player can then go through this section as they please and solve puzzles in order to get enough lootboxes to climb the final, giant wall which leads to the exit.
Reflections/Design Thoughts
Overall, I am proud of the design work I did on this game. While I do enjoy the occasional puzzle game, they are not my personal favorite genre. However, I felt that this was a great exercise in the design of core game mechanics and 3D levels. From the playtesting we did, I think that most players (particularly those familiar with puzzle games) were able to naturally understand the different puzzles and what to do as they went along. I also think that having multiple uses for a single mechanic is a great way to easily give the player more content and is an indicator of solid a design. I have grown more certain in my belief that it is better to give players fewer, deeper mechanics, with many applications than to burden them with many mechanics that each serve a single purpose. In this vein, I would like to redesign the spray bottle and mitten items as they each only serve singular, basic purposes. The spray bottle can be used to cool off flame lootboxes and the mitten can be used to open ice lootboxes. Both items are effectively glorified keys and I think that I could do better if I tried to redesigned them with multiple uses for them in mind. Perhaps you could get water for the spray bottle by melting the ice lootboxes or maybe use the spray bottle to grow plants that would allow access to different areas of the level? I suppose I will leave these design ideas for another day. That all being said, this was a fun look at a genre which I am not used to working on, and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to tackle new and unfamiliar challenges!