Introduction

This project's brief required me and a group of 4 others to create a 2D puzzle game. We had a timespan of 13 weeks to create a fully fleshed game with key design decisions.

My role was to organize the GDD (Game Design Document), design the Real Estate Agent, and later on to create the Demonstration, which would show off the game in function.
I also ensured data from our playtest would be used for developing our Player Experience goals.

As a team, we all sparked discussions about the mechanics, characters, player goals, and other general stuff. This communication developed a really strong dynamic between my team members to ensure we were all on the same page and we knew what we were doing.

The game we designed was called "Hunter's Moon", a murder mystery where after inheriting an abandoned property in the forest, the player must look for clues to find out who's the killer and why.

Bartle's Taxonomy showing what target audience we were looking for.

Development

In the earlier weeks, I was working on the GDD. The GDD served as the main resource we'd constantly refer back to for our game idea. I had to take extra care on the layout to make sure my team members could easily and quickly access the information they needed.

After we had our basic game idea, we each designed an NPC that fit into the aesthetic of "Hunter's Moon". I designed a Real Estate Agent, a sketchy businessman suspiciously adamant on buying your new found property. Clues such as land documents shared by the caretaker, cell phone from the teenagers with a missed call from the estate agent, and a knife shared by the hiker with the estate agent's initials carved, all point towards the estate agent to be the supposed killer.

In week 7, we had a playtest where players were able to play a prototype of our game. My job was to take notes on what actions the players did, and collect data on what they thought about the game.

I used the playtest's feedback to create new player experience goals based on friction points in gameplay. For example, I noticed the players were using the journal mechanic way later than intended. To combat this, we added a simple prompt and also mentioned to use the map AND journal in the caretaker's dialogue.

Near the end of the project, my task was to create the Demonstration. I was originally gonna do this on PowerPoint, but I realized Blender would be more suitable and comfortable to use because of my previous experience.

Because our game was a point and click type, I had to import our digital assets and move them around in Blender. This was no problem, as I already had experience animating. However, I had to take extra consideration on the interactions & audio because in a real game, every animation & sound has a purpose and has to be clearly telegraphed, so in the demonstration I standardized timings, and added unique audio for interacting with the game.

The final product was a demonstration that replicated exactly how a player would navigate through our game.

The art for the Real Estate Agent. Wow this is awesome

We performed a Paper Playtest and gathered results from it.

In week 7, we had a playtest where players were able to play a prototype of our game. My job was to take notes on what actions the players did, and collect data on what they thought about the game.

I used the playtest's feedback to create new player experience goals based on friction points in gameplay. For example, I noticed the players were using the journal mechanic way later than intended, to combat this; we added a simple prompt and mentioned to use the map AND journal in the caretaker's dialogue.

A behind the scenes look of the Demonstration video in Blender

An image showing the level of detail present in the game demonstration. This includes mouse clicks, ambience, and background music.

Near the end of the project, my task was to create the Demonstration. I was originally gonna do this on PowerPoint, but I realized blender would be more suitable and comfortable to use because of my previous experience.

Because our game was a point and click type, I had to import our digital assets and move them around in blender. This was no problem, as I already had experience animating. However, I had to take extra consideration on the interactions & audio because in a real game, every animation & sound has a purpose and has to be clearly telegraphed, so in the demonstration I standardized timings, and added unique audio for interacting with the game.

The final product was a demonstration that replicated exactly how a player would navigate through our game.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed working in a team to bring a game from a simple conversation to a fully fledged design.

On reflection, I believe I played a strong role in my group. The Real Estate Agent matched the aesthetic of Hunter's Moon, and the demonstration successfully shows the game's design, gameplay, and atmosphere.
However, I believe I should have spread out my effort during the 13 weeks, as during the last few weeks I was spending most of my day working on the project.
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I gained and refined some valuable skills from this project, like;

Designing characters with purpose
Iterating through mechanics for player goals
Iterating through designs

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Taking more considerations towards;

Accessibility
Player archetypes (Bartle's Taxonomy)
Sound design
User Interface

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I also gained practice in;

Using Blender's draw mode more
Animating with Blender
Mixing audio
Formatting & Planning Documents
Communication