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My Role: Product Vision, UX, UI, Branding, Level Design, Concept to Completion, Creative Marketing
My Team: 1 Engineer, 2 Illustrators, 3rd Party Developer
Time to completion: 3 years
Overview
Space Critters is a journey to save the universe's most adorable creatures. It is a one of a kind puzzle arcade game that captivates both casual gamers and puzzle enthusiasts of all ages. It's free-to-play model ensures that everyone can join in the fun and experience the thrill of this extraordinary game.
Target Audience
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Casual Gamers
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Puzzle Enthusiasts
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Mobile Gamers
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All Ages
Kids
Families
Goal: Appeal to a wide range of age groups. Families, kids, teenagers, and even adults should find enjoyment in the vibrant visuals and addictive gameplay.
Casual Games Art Style Moodboard
Art Style Inspiration
The art style needed to appeal to a wide range of players and evoke a sense of fun and lightheartedness. Inspiration came from popular casual games and cartoons that have resonated with large audiences.
Style Guide
The style guide places an emphasis on vibrant colors and playful fonts that fit with lighthearted approachable graphics.
Color Palette
#8ECD7B
#5ABE5C
#EEF8FD
#D7DFE3
#5FCD62
#2ABE31
#27AA2A
#33EFFF
#377DB3
#263F7C
#7CCBF3
#329FD9
#B8C2FD
#7228fb
#4068D8
#FAF1CA
#FECB35
#FFFC70
#FD7424
#F1251C
#E8429A
#753C0C
#F29C36
#35CD9B
#2CFF79
Fonts
Showcard Gothic
aBCDEFGHIJKLMNOpqrstuvwxyz
PROXIMA NOVA
AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKk
LlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz
Brand Mark
Crafting the Player Experience
The concept for Space Critters is directly inspired by Android's "Pattern Unlock Screen". In-order to unlock an Android phone one option is to swipe a predetermined pattern. The physical movement used for unlocking the phone creates a fun flow, that I thought; if expanded upon, had the potential to become the entire foundation of a very fun puzzle game.
From Concept to Prototype
I set out to create a player experience based on the "Android Pattern Unlock Screen". In-order for the concept to work I would need to establish a gameplay grid that would allow players to flow through a movement much like the "Unlock Screen".
Sketch: Concept
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Establish a grid layout for the gameplay system.
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Create a basic set of rules for gameplay.
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Begin to tie in casual game characteristics.
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Create rough concept designs for game tiles.
Sketch: Rules
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Each set of tiles when grouped together, will create competing challenges that the player will need to resolve.
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Gameplay will combine the "Unlock Screen" with a set of rules based on "Rock, Paper, Scissors".
Sketch: Layout
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Final Grid layout.
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Designed on the back of a parking lot receipt.
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Inspiration can happen in odd places :)
Preparing the Prototype
With the help of a very talented engineer. We began putting together the first gameplay prototype. The first build featured simple shapes. The player experience would only focus on gameplay mechanics and wether or not the puzzle arcade concept was fun to play.
Build 1
The first prototype.
Simultaneously
I began design on
high-fidelity wireframes.
Illustrations
Our Illustrators began concept art for graphics and characters.
Gameplay Mechanics:
In order for our engineer to clearly visualize how each game tile should function, I provided colorful high-fidelity wireframes for gameplay mechanics.
Premliminary branding
Working title exploration.
UI Design Testing
Small steps toward UI cohesion.
Build 2
Second prototype ready for user testing.
User testing: We volunteered various people to play test the new build. Our kids, wives, friends and family all got the call to action.
Key moment: If we could not confirm that the gameplay concept was fun to play; the entire project would not be moving forward.
Proof of Concept Play Test
Success!
We received overwhelmingly positive feed back on the test build.
"My kids' wanted to play so bad they kept fighting over the tablet."
"So far its fun! I can't wait to see the finished product."
Room for Improvement
"The game is too easy.
The difficulty should vary."
"Have you thought about adding a timer to make it more stressful?"
Our Success: We proved the concept is playable and more importantly–fun.
What's next?: We could move forward with implementing design, user experience, player journey, and the final milestone–Release on the App Stores.
All The Moving Pieces
Scope: As the scope of the project grew. Our engineer and both illustrators departed from the project.
Launching the game: In order to complete the game development process, I brought in a 3rd party development team to help finish the build.
Learning to adapt: As the lone driving force, my role adapted to include project management and all other aspects of the game's development. Moving forward, I would provide all creative direction, assets, materials and feedback as needed, to the dev team.
Information Options
Paper Prototype used to organize game content.
Flow Chart
Using the information options, I created a flowchart that would show the player's journey through out the product.
56 Page Game Design Document
Designed on InDesign for both print and PDF. I created the entire game's architecture, story and gameplay mechanics before approaching the 3rd party developer. The GDD reduced the scope of the project and lowered the amount of feedback I would need to provide on a day to day basis.
Story and Lore
I wrote the over arching story and lore that would set our characters off into their adventure. The Screenplay was turned into storyboards by our Illustrator and eventually converted into final game art by our 3rd Party Developer. *Included in GDD.
Light Hearted Approachable UI
Following the guidelines established in the Style Guide the art style was finalizied.
Launch Day
After three years of hard work. Space Critters launched on December of 2020 on iOS, the Amazon App Store and six months later, it launched on Google Play as B27 and Friends (A/B test title).
Accomplishments
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Accepted into GDC 2021 Indendent Games Festival:
View GDC Page -
Localized in Spanish for release in Latin America.
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Achieved 1000 Downloads (with tiny marketing budget).
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