Overview

Pixi is a 2D action platformer game centered around minimalism. The aesthetic, UI and mechanics of Pixi are unobtrusive and take the player into the next game as quickly as possible. As the game progresses, the player must pass increasingly complicated arrangements of obstacles.

PROJECT GOAL

Create a rewarding gameplay experience with satisfying skill progression for players

MY CONTRIBUTION

My partner and I collaboratively designed the UX flow of the game. I came up with the game concept and was responsible for the entire game's level design. I also developed the entire game in Unity by myself.

A Closer Look at the Mechanics

The game has only two controls: swap & jump.

The player can use the two controls to achieve three different actions: swap, jump, and double jump.

Diagram of the three mechanics (swap, jump, double jump)

The player can collect stars in each level. Having a star score incentivizes the player to overachieve by collecting all the stars before moving on.

Another gameplay screen from a later level

Design Process

Cut the Fluff

A common pitfall in designing a game from scratch is to be overly ambitious with art, system design, story, and mechanics. Pixi accomplishes as much as it can with as little as possible. Our priorities were snappy gameplay, satisfying animations, and quick transitions between screens.

No Tutorial

We designed the levels to introduce challenge over time. The first level even removes one of the core controls (swap) and introduces it in the second level instead. Having a tutorial or explanation gating the experience went against our core philosophy of eliminating extraneous overhead - we wanted the player to jump straight into gameplay without any barriers.

Fail Often

The game is designed to encourage the player to try again after failing. Restarting levels after failing is quick with little time wasted on transitioning between menus. This forces the player to channel their frustration with failing immediately into ambition to win again.

Flow diagram for the different game screens

Prioritize Motion

We chose to focus on creating better animations and VFX instead of creating high-fidelity sprites. By doing so, the game feels polished even though the shape language is simplistic.

Pixi