Pick Some Axe

Pick Some Axe is an exploration focused 3D platformer in which players control Joe, who is a miner diving into a mine near his house in order to save his partner Jasper who has been kidnapped by the evil rock monster inhabitants of the mine. The game is focused on its digging mechanic, which allows players to navigate the environment by digging in walls and ceilings to make up for the lack of a conventional jump in the game. The game will be releasing on steam in May of this year.

I was responsible for systems design on the game and was the owner of the games Final Boss fight, as well as the initial owner of the games shop system. This was also my first experience being on boarded to a game halfway through the project. I worked with a team of 12 on the game including 4 other designers. 

Working as the owner of the final boss on Pick Some Axe posed a variety of challenges to me throughout the development process. For starters I was unfamiliar with the Enemy class and its usage as I had just been on boarded onto the project; On top of that the enemy and combat systems were undergoing a rework as I was beginning development on the fight, which would likely result in the bosses systems and programming needing to be changed as the games other combat systems progressed. As a result much of my time spent on the boss after the initial concept phase was spent updating, adjusting, and fixing the boss as the systems surrounding it changed and the games mechanics shifted. Ultimately we had to make the decision to scope down the boss from the initial four phases down to the final two in the game so I could polish the two remaining phases as much as possible before being freed up to prioritize other aspects of the project before our release deadline.

Ultimately the time I spent working on Pick Some Axe gave me a great insight into on boarding as a process and the experience of moving between teams on a game.