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!
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.
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.
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.
The drip mechanic is born!
As a team, we then planned out a demo level that utilized the drip mechanic on a whiteboard:
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.
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!
