Spin and match it

Game OVERVIEW

Spin It, Match It is a character creator-esque game where the player is able to stop cubes that are spinning to create an image with a focus on the art. Spin It, Match It is a combination of character creators, Lego minifigs and the ark character creator.

It was developed during the Springboard 2023 One Dynamic Game Jam between September 2023 to November 2023 but continued working on the game full time until January 2024. We wanted to make this idea because it was able to take the theme of the game jam into a different direction. 

Team Composition

Iva Devcic - Artist

Mario Mingoia - Games Designer (designed the mechanics, hazard system and possible future mechanics). In this project, I was the Team Lead while also keeping to the schedule. I showed that I cared by making sure the artist was OK with the amount of work on their plate and I had empathy with the members of the team that had other commitment and outlined University should come first for them. When I had criticism, I did it in a polite manner as well as, I hope to not annoy them, ask them questions because I wanted to learn a lot more about their discipline to better understand it. 

Angelos Petrakis - Programmer/ Audio Designer

Jessica Saunders - Mentor

reflection and improvement

Overall, this project served as a great opportunity for me as it gave me a rough estimation of how a Games Company works as well as allowing me to learn from people within the industry and from my team. A successful element of the game was (as the Polish was very important) the game making me think about Polish a lot more than I have previously considered. This was because the game was relatively simple meaning the Polish needed to do a lot of heavy lifting as well as realising how important it is (I've always seen it as important, but this re-enforces it). This process was rather enjoyable because it allowed me to think about different aspects. This is something I'll do in the future, considering the Polish of the game as it fully rounds the game and makes the game feel more complete. Another successful element of Spin and Match It is the fact the game served as a good base for future additions such as other game types, the player being able to create their own narrative from character faces and the ability to create new sets of characters. However, despite being a good base, some of these features should of been in the game (even just a simple scoring) in order to make the game a more rounder experience. 

A issue with Spin and Match It is there being no clear instructions for what to do at the start. This is bad Design and something I needed to consider. Part of the reason (and a very minor reason) is because the lack of familiarity. The main is simply the lack of instructions for what the player needs to do. This lack of instructions meant the player was confused and therefore didn't enjoy playing the game. Something that I could of done is have a "tutorial" where a cube flashes and telling the player to click it twice to choose a face to make a full image. I should of noticed this sooner as well because of how long it took me to explain to my team mates. These are some questions that I need to take into account in the future:

• How would other players interact with the game? 

• Are they going to be confused? 

• What can I do to make the player understand what is going on?