Description
- Genre:Turn-Based Puzzle Game
- Made On:Unity
- Role:Solo Developer
- Made for the class ART007, "Art of the Game" in 2024 in three weeks.
How can you fall asleep? When the insomnia demon is haunting you, better pull out all the tricks in the book. Within three turns, the player must experiment with different options. Should you take melatonin, and then count sheep? Or drink water, and then punch the demon? As the player tries over and over again, they will learn to recognize patterns in each move's effects and unlock various endings based on their choices. Try to defeat the demon with any means possible!
When it came time for the final project of my game design class, I knew I didn't have too much time. I had around three weeks to make a game, so I decided to keep it simple. I was inspired by my own battles against insomnia, which often do feel like a frustruating battle with a voice in my head.
I have always loved turn-based games like Fire Emblem and Pokémon, so I wanted to make a game that is only one battle. In this battle, the player must remember patterns and discern the few solutions to victory against the demon by lowering its HP to 0. Each action has a unique effect and damage, sometimes changing based on the turn or the emotional state of the demon. For example, drinking water on turn 3 gives bonus damage.
I created a Miro board to collect influences and then planned out the possible actions on each turn. With nine actions available over three turns and only a handful of solutions, the game became about how much information the player gains each playthrough and how long they will keep trying before they give up.
The game is similar to an arcade game, where the player must try over and over again to unlock new things and learn the tricks to the game.
I made a playable prototype by printing out pieces of paper for each action and then allowing players to flip them up to imitate the buttons in game. I used my phone and iPad as the user interfaces, so I can modify the information displayed in real time.
Through playtesting, I learned how much the semantic aspect of the game played a huge role. The players would discuss what each option means and how to interpret the demon's words.
I also learned how much importance little victories have to the players, so I implemented special, non victory endings and also giving out more hints through the demon's dialogue and end of playthrough.
I continued to tweak difficulty in the number of solutions available through playtesting, as the game can sometimes feel frustruating, but I wanted to make sure the player does not give up so quickly that they do not see at least a few endings.
