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Description
Description
In my gap year, I worked on my biggest project yet, a relaxing mobile puzzle game which I have released on Google Play.
Process
Process
Phase 1: Conception
Phase 1: Conception
November 2023
During a paper-prototype brainstorming session, I got the following idea for a game:
Two players both control their own dice on a grid
At the beginning of one's turn, get an amount of steps equal to the top face of your dice
Instead of normally moving your dice on a grid, roll it (rotate 90 degrees in the direction you move)
If you land on the other player's dice with your last step; Congratulations, you won! If not; It is now the other player's turn.
These rules led players to think how they needed to roll their dice to begin their next turn with the most amount of steps.
phase 2: idea refinement
phase 2: idea refinement
November 2023
Although I liked the simplicity of the rules, I felt the game had limited complexity. So I decided to add tiles with different colors and effects to the (grid) playing field. Soon after that, I decided to move the game from a Player vs. Player to a single-player puzzle game.
phase 3: first digital prototype
phase 3: first digital prototype
December 2023
Although the appearance of tiles and UI would change, the rules of this prototype in December are actually the same as in the release version 8 months later.
Start
The player begins a level with an amount of steps equal to the face pointing up
Movement
You can use a step to roll the dice (move 1 square and rotate 90 degrees in that direction)
Tiles only activate when you land on them with your last step
Tiles:
Green: Finish the level
Red: Get an amount of steps equal to the face currently pointing up
Yellow: Get 1 step
Phase 4: Pre-production
Phase 4: Pre-production
Januari 2024
I did a lot of research towards puzzle game development, with the most influential idea being this:
"Each level should be an opportunity for the designer to learn the player something new. The player can indicate he understands by solving the puzzle"
I playtested the game with a lot of people, to see whether iterations I made had the desired effect.
Stage 5: production
Stage 5: production
Februari - May 2024
After a showcase at the Dutch Game Garden Network Lunch, I moved to production. That meant making 2 more tiles, deciding on a monetization strategy and creating a lot of new levels.
The biggest challenge was crafting a tutorial that made people understand the mechanics of the game, because the combination of abstract logic and spatial awareness takes some practise to get used to for most people.
Stage 6: closed test
Stage 6: closed test
June 2024
In order to launch your game on Google Play, it is required to have a closed test with 20 testers for 2 weeks. In the first few months I had mostly received constructive criticism, but now the feedback was turning a lot more positive. Still, there were some big problems that needed adressing.
Stage 7: launch
Stage 7: launch
July 2024
After succesfully adressing these final problems, I felt confident enough to launch Precise Para-Dice on the Google Play Store. It got about 40 downloads in the first day.
Reflection
Reflection
I should have put more effort into making sure my commercial goals were realistic in the beginning of the project, by talking with other developers. Taking my experience and skill level in account, I should have probably done more research on publishers, since I had very little knowledge of monetization and user acquisition.
I should have created a planning earlier, using some sort of road-map for releasing on Google Play.
I could have used a bit more structure in my documents. I want to try out OneNote for my next project.
After finishing my game, I found out that in 2022, the 2022 GMTK Game Jam had "Roll of the Dice" as theme. One of the games I could have taken a lot of inspiration from was "Roll of the Dice" by Escapade Games. This would have saved time when I was figuring out how to visualize the dice to players. I especially liked their solution which makes it possible to view all sides of the dice at the same time, as can be seen in the picture below:
if i had more resources
if i had more resources
I would have liked to build a level editor, so players can build their own levels, and share these with friends. This would foster 2 (autonomy and relatedness) of the 3 basic psychological needs of Self-Determination Theory.
Another feature I would have included is some kind of stars system, where a player gets some amount of stars after a level, depending on whether the route he found was the fastest. This plays into 'competence', (the 3rd basic psychological need according to Self-Determination Theory) motivating the player by showing him his skill. I also believe that some players will want to challenge themselves to get the maximum amount of stars on every level.
Technologies
Technologies
Unity
GitHub
Paint.net
Trello
Figma
Statistics
Statistics
Google Play
Total downloads: 87
Total reviews: 10
Average review rating: 4.8
Store listing conversion rate: 41.04%
Production
Production time: 8 months
Hours worked: ~1000 (estimation)
Google Documents: 16 (containing total of 97 pages)
Physical notes: 103 pages
Lines of source code: 3.280
Social Media impressions: 9.000 (channels on website)
Playtests: 49
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