Heidi Erwin Cartoon Sun Drawing
heidi erwin
Granny & Squirtsworth
Puzzle Platformer Game

WHEN:  Spring 2018
WHAT:  A puzzle platformer about a grandma in a fish market whose octopus squirts ink to fill up and activate fish-tank platforms.
Solving levels requires the player to manage their ink resource while being conscious of a puzzle mechanic where ink drips off of (and onto) platforms, deactivating (and activating) them.
SKILLS: Game Design, C#, Unity, Project Management

Play the game online here, or view the Game Design Document here!

Granny & Squirtsworth Level 2 Screenshot
Granny & Squirtsworth Inked Spikes Mechanic

My Role
I served as the programming lead of a 4-person programming team in the 13-person group for this semester-long project. I communicated with team members, the project lead, and the art lead to ensure the completion of the game. As a programming lead I managed the breakdown of features and mechanics that needed to be completed, and assisted other programmers when necessary. As a programmer, I implemented player movement and object interaction mechanics (C#). As a designer, my primary contributions were introducing the drip puzzle mechanic of the game and providing feedback on level designs. This game was developed as part of Brown RISD Game Developers, a student game development organization run by students at Brown University and RISD, with audio contributions provided by students at Berklee College of Music.

Development took place over the course of 24 hours, with work spread out across 4-hour weekly meetings and one 8 hour mini-game jam.

Complicated Level Screenshot
Complex Level Screenshot

Process
The creation of Granny and Squirtsworth began when one member of my 13-person team was interested in creating a platformer that utilized the idea of shooting ink.

Mechanic Base Idea


To build off of this initial concept, I suggested a game mechanic in which the player had to strategically use gravity to ink platforms that were otherwise out of reach. This also introduced a timing-based skill component into the gameplay, as players must move while the platform that they need to be solid is still solid.


Drip Mechanic Idea

The drip mechanic is born!

As a team, we then planned out a demo level that utilized the drip mechanic on a whiteboard:

Mechanic Whiteboard Drawing


We soon decided to incorporate wall-jumping for extra platforming fun, and having decided to skin the game with a fish market aesthetic, the programmers, designers and artists got to work.

BRGD Work Session Photo

A photo from one of our meetings. The Granny and Squirtsworth team is the table cluster closest to the camera!

In May, we were able to demo the game (and the rest of the games created by BRGD) at our playtesting event to the general public and a panel of industry professionals: Michael Carriere (Zapdot, Inc), Gwen Frey (The Molasses Flood), Jen MacLean (IGDA), and Ichiro Lambe (Dejobaan Games).


Reflections
Overall, I’m happy with how the game turned out, especially given that it was built over the course of 24 hours by full-time students!

As a programmer on the team, it was an opportunity to tune my C# skills, and collaborating with others to make something that the entire group cares about is always a very valuable experience.

Play the game online here!
Granny and Squirtsworth Buildings
Granny & Squirtsworth Goal Fish