Break the Bounds
Break the Bounds is a 3D puzzle-platformer developed by Out of the Box Studios under DigiPen's GAM-400 & -450 classes during Fall '23 and Spring '24.
This was a 5-person team, of which I served as Producer. I created all of the initial design documentation and was responsible for the direction of the game, implemented most menus, assisted my fellow designers with the levels, and modeled all original assets within Maya.
Break the Bounds Trailer
Overview
Break the Bounds is in a really strange place, since it was going extremely slowly during the first half while we were figuring out exactly what we wanted the game to be, but we were able to turn it around, making the game come out extremely well due to some smart decisions on exactly what we needed to do.
Generally, the game started out as a simple concept: a puzzle platformer where the player has to clip out of bounds to win. Over time, this concept evolved to have a "narrator" character actively working against the player, with them "patching in" things to prevent the player from clipping out of bounds the same way in a level.
Game Design Document
This was the first thing I did for the project, since it outlines all of our major decisions. It covers our high-level overview, intended audience, design pillars, primary mechanics, and other sources of inspiration for the "jank" aesthetic we wanted the game to have. After the doc was created, it was not updated and did not see much use, as its primary purpose was to get all of my teammates unified in a vision of what the game should be, and it definitely succeeded to that end.
The first and fourth levels, respectively
Levels
Initially, our scope was to have five full levels with unique gimmicks for clipping the player out of bounds. At the halfway point during the project, we looked back at our scope and determined that it was not possible to get done within a reasonable amount of time. So, we decided to rescope to three major levels, with two of those levels having three variations each (for a total of 7). This would allow us to better polish the levels we have, in addition to creating both a better narrative and more content for the game.
In addition, we added a "narrator" character at that halfway point due to users being confused as to how to solve the puzzles. After we added the narrator, players were able to solve those puzzles fairly handily.