Designed and implemented the game's upgrade economy and progression systems
Developed farming automation systems, including planting and harvesting minions
Created and integrated character animations in Unity using imported sprite sheets
Built during a Halloween game jam with a team of four developers over a single weekend
Developed in Unity using C#
Autumn Idle is a Halloween-themed idle game created during a weekend game jam. Players manage a pumpkin farm by planting crops, harvesting pumpkins, purchasing upgrades, and expanding their land. As the farm grows, players can invest in automation through planting and harvesting minions while defending their crops from hungry animals.
The project was developed by a team of four working side-by-side in an RIT lab over the course of a single weekend. The fast pace of development forced us to make decisions quickly, communicate constantly, and focus on building a complete experience before time ran out.
My primary contributions were designing the progression systems, implementing upgrades, developing farming minions, and creating the game's animations in Unity.
I designed and implemented the upgrade system that controlled how players expanded their farm, increased pumpkin production, and automated repetitive tasks.
We wanted players to always have something they were working toward. Early upgrades focused on growing pumpkins faster and increasing the value of each harvest. Once players had a stable income, they could purchase additional plots of land and begin scaling up production. The most expensive upgrades unlocked passive income and automation systems, creating a natural endgame where the farm could largely sustain itself.
I was responsible for implementing these systems and balancing their costs so that players had a clear progression path while still feeling like they had meaningful choices about where to invest their resources.
One mechanic we spent a lot of time talking about was the animal system.
Throughout the game, crows and squirrels would appear and threaten the player's crops. Their purpose was to keep players engaged while the farming systems ran in the background. We wanted players to feel like they were actively watching over a farm rather than simply waiting for numbers to increase.
Looking back, I think the mechanic both helped and hurt the game a little bit. It did exactly what we wanted by keeping players engaged and paying attention to their farm, but it also fought against some of the appeal of idle games. Idle games are often about stepping away and letting your systems run, while our animal mechanic rewarded players for staying attentive.
One thing I found interesting was how much this changed player attention. The animals constantly gave players something to watch for and react to, which helped keep them engaged moment to moment. Even though I would redesign parts of the system today, it got me thinking about how mechanics influence where players focus their attention and how engaged they feel throughout a game.
If I were working on the game today, this is probably the first system I'd revisit. The animals eventually became more of a nuisance than a challenge. Since they didn't scale alongside the player's growing farm, they became something players instinctively clicked away rather than a mechanic that continued creating interesting decisions. I would explore ways for the threats to evolve over time and stay relevant as the farm expanded.
Another area I ended up working on was the game's animations.
Before this project, I had very little experience with Unity's animation tools. During the game jam, I was responsible for finding free-use sprite assets, importing them into Unity, and creating the animations used throughout the game.
Since this was my first time working with Unity animations, I spent much of the second day teaching myself how the system worked. There wasn't really time to do it perfectly, so I focused on getting things working and learning as I went. By the end of the weekend, I had successfully integrated the sprite sheets and built the animations needed for the project.
While the visuals are one area I would continue improving today, the experience taught me how to quickly learn unfamiliar tools and apply them under a tight deadline.
The biggest thing I took away from Autumn Idle was how much can get done when a team is all in the same room solving problems together.
We spent most of the weekend in an RIT lab building features, testing them, showing them off to each other, and helping whenever someone got stuck. The project grew organically as people finished tasks and looked for the next thing that needed to be done. If someone ran into a problem, everyone jumped in to help solve it.
By the end of the weekend, we had a complete game submitted with less than an hour to spare.
Looking back, there are definitely systems I'd continue refining, especially the animal mechanics and overall visual polish. But for a weekend project, I'm proud of how much we were able to build and how quickly our team adapted whenever something wasn't working. The project taught me a lot about scope, communication, and making smart design decisions when time is limited.
Click to place pumpkin seeds on open plots
Players can purchase farmer cats and harvesting reapers to plant and harvest pumpkins automatically
Crows and squirrels will spawn to eat the player's pumpkin.
Click them to scare them off