In early 2024, at my day career, the design team was talking games. We were tasked to come up with ideas, and the team would likely move forward with one between projects and deadlines. This was a group effort of an amazing team, for when we had the extra time to work on it. Jump ahead to late 2025, and we have made a game! The game is on the company's website and is free to play. It is playable on your desktop computer or your preferred mobile device. With the game now live, I wanted to share it with you all. When I think about it, after twenty years working in games, this is the first digital game that I have worked on that was actually completed and usable. First, let's have a look at the game.
Again, I can not stress how much amazing work and talent the team brought to the table for this project. We would not have a completed game without all of us coming together. In the end, the game, music, and sound effects were all created in-house by us. Here is a look at the game menu on the screen. I will circle back around regarding the game stats.
Now, for my contribution to the project. In the early days of thinking about this project, we as a team talked about some game graphics that were made for our website and how that might be a good jumping-off point for a game. Using the imagery from the graphics, I worked up a limited scope concept. At the time, I wasn't sure if we would ever get off the ground, if it was even possible, and how much time and energy we had available. So in the end, I aimed small with the options to scale up if possible.
To that end, I planned out a limited area vertical jumper where you moved from platform to platform collecting fruit as you tried to outrun rising water and a leaping alligator. Nothing groundbreaking, but we all have to start somewhere. Using the existing graphic on our site as a starting point, I worked up a series of infographics, sketches, and an animated demo. Here are my super professional sketches that I started with.
I quickly made elements in Photoshop for the diagrams and imported them into Adobe Animate (Flash) to create the animated demo. I used Flash for many years, so it was fun to use it again. Here is the breakdown I made for the team to explain my idea and concept.
I used a mix of found and made audio elements to complete the animated demo. My concept and plan were well-received for the most part.
At this point, much of the project was out of my hands. I was still involved with working out design concepts and giving feedback on the work being done. The team explored some different options with the presentation of the game, but in the end, we moved back to my original concept and expanded it into an endless jumper. There is no longer an end goal beyond surviving as long as possible and achieving the highest score. Here is a super detailed and professional sketch showing how the spring platform should look and work.
It has been a true joy to be a part of this and to watch the team create such a fun game. We haven't reinvented the wheel, but we made something
Now it is your turn to play, if you
While this project might look like all fun and games, the team was actually working on some
Speaking of
I could not be happier or
That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...
