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I was responsible for the design of all aspects of the game from the character, weapons, enemies, the world, dungeons, soundtrack, effects used, balancing the game, and designing and creating the biggest level alongside the boss fight.

The main focus of the game was to make the player feel hopeless which is why permadeath is a mechanic as well as constantly depleting oxygen reserves where the player will start losing health when it is empty.

This short video showcases the start of the game and the introduction of the main mechanics of the game which are oxygen reserve, dashing, and the fact that the enemies are plants and rocks on the planet that come to life, however, not all of them do come alive and the player needs to watch out for them.

In short, the swamp area in the middle of the map was designed to work as a HUB to the whole World and be the connecting point to all the different areas in the game including the tutorial area, cave dungeon, final boss fight, and an area reserved for a possible future dungeon. The player can use the swamp to orient themselves in the world and be able to figure out the path they want to take next. Another important rule that i reinforced in the design is to never have a dead end for a long path since we don’t have any items that could drop from the enemies. The only dead ends we had in the level were short detours in which the player can quickly kill the enemies and fill their Oxygen reserves.

For more information about the process of the design of the game check the “Design Journal” link at the top of the page.

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