Overview

This is, without a doubt, the largest project I worked on at USC. One of USC's Advanced Game Projects, made in a capstone course that lasts 2 semesters. I was one of 5 designers, on a team of over 20. I can say now that working on COLE was just as challenging as making games professionally.

In this darkly comedic 2D platformer, the player controls a coal-shoveling slave being on a spaceship. The player is able to able to escape from their repetitive coal-shoveling existence and explore the ship and its impoverished residents.

Tasks

I was in charge of the "Shovel Surfing" level. This level takes a break from the usual platforming mechanics and dark tone, offering the player a minigame where the character rides their own shovel. I had fun designing all of the cool and cheesy features, like a "Trick-O-Cam" closeup that appears when the player does tricks. But in retrospect I realize this level was way too big.

Other than that level, I had my hands in whatever sequence needed work, on a week by week basis. Like all of the designers, I spent a few weeks working on the "Coal Room," one of the first major areas of the game. Working on that level was always a delicate balance. How much should the level feel like a game in itself? How obvious should it be that the player can escape?

I think everyone realized that the initial plan was overscoped, myself included. This led to a rough middle stretch of production, but we became more focused and polished during the second semester.

This was the final project in my "Experimental Game Workshop" course, which I took while also working on COLE.

The entire development of this game centered on a single goal: I wanted the player to feel like they were doing parkour with their fingers. While other mobile games have the player run automatically, in Fingerrun the player must actually make a running motion with their fingers (the speed of their motion affects the speed of the run). Jumping is done by lifting both fingers off the screen, as if the fingers were jumping themselves.

In addition to running / jumping, I included a "grab" mechanic where players could swing on hooks or propel themselves from cliff outcrop to outcrop. The art is minimalist, but some features, like the pillars in the desert, were randomly generated with code.

If you'd like to try it yourself, you can download the android package here.

Another project made in the Experimental Game Workshop course, although this one was smaller than Fingerrun. The focus of this project was "audience participation." I worked with another student on this project; she worked mostly on the first half, while I focused on the second. We both worked on design and programming.

In this game, the player uses their voice to interact. In the first half, a line darts across a canvas, changing color and speed based on the pitch and volume of the user's voice. In the second half, the user must make sound to build a wall of cubes, then shout to knock the wall over.

If you'd like to try it yourself, you can download the game here.

This was the main project in the Intermediate Game Workshop course. All of the design and programming was split between me and a partner.

In this 2D platformer, you play as a shapeshifting animal spirit trying to infiltrate the City of the Gods. This game is inspired by the "trickster" character that exist in many culture's mythologies (especially the myth "the Raven Steals the Sun"). The player can transform animals at will: run quickly as the Fox, climb walls as the Spider, and glide as the Raven.

This was the first project where I really learned that designing a game is so much more than just making it. For the first time, I made detailed designs and mockups in preparation. Even more importantly, we playtested our game through the development process, changing the game based on feedback. We sure were in for some surprises!

If you'd like to try it yourself, you can download the game here.

The first project in Intermediate Game Workshop, something I made in preparation for Trickster. The guideline for this project was simple: make a pinball game.

I find it interesting how pinball machines occasionally give the player "missions," such as hitting a certain target or shooting the ball into a specific track. I wanted to make a pinball game that had a narrative, and a definite end (other than Game Over).

In this pinball game, a colossus is rampaging through a city in the background. By hitting targets, flying through tracks, and going off ramps, the player must assemble, charge, and aim a weapon to stop the monster.