Ball-Z - Casual Puzzle Game
Group Project
Role: Main Programmer
Platform: PC
Software: Unity
Genre: Casual Puzzle Game
Project Overview:
Ball-Z is a casual, emergent puzzle game where players draw lines on the screen to guide a ball to its destination, represented by a golden coin. Each level has its own unique mechanics, and the game encourages creative solutions to navigate the ball through increasingly complex environments. With a humorous theme inspired by puns related to famous cities around the world, Ball-Z offers a fun and lighthearted experience for casual players who enjoy puzzles. The game currently contains 12 levels, each reflecting iconic landmarks and cultural references.
Objective:
The core goal of Ball-Z is for players to use their creativity to guide a ball to its destination using a series of drawn lines. These lines act as paths or platforms that help the ball move, bounce, or interact with other elements in the game. The game’s levels progressively unlock as players complete challenges, and the key to success lies in experimenting with the game's physics-based mechanics to navigate obstacles and reach the golden coin.
Design Guidelines
To create a successful user experience, the following design guidelines were applied to Ball-Z:
Simplicity and Freedom: The game is designed to give players as much freedom as possible. They can draw lines anywhere on the screen without limitations, allowing them to experiment and find creative solutions.
Comedic Atmosphere: The game’s lighthearted, pun-filled theme is maintained through the art style, level names (e.g., New-Yorkie, Mum Bae), and interactive elements, ensuring the comedic tone is consistent throughout the game.
Progression and Reward: The progression system is designed to reward players for completing levels, with each level offering a sense of achievement. Unlocking new levels after completing the previous ones keeps the players motivated and provides a sense of forward momentum.
Clear Feedback: The game provides both visual and auditory feedback when players interact with the UI elements or complete tasks (e.g., clicking buttons, collecting coins). This helps reinforce actions and provides satisfying confirmation of success.
Physics-Based Interactions: One of the major design changes was to implement a physics system for the lines drawn by players. This introduces an element of unpredictability, making the gameplay more dynamic and fun. Objects interact with gravity, bounce off surfaces, and can have various effects on the ball’s movement, creating emergent gameplay opportunities.
Level Diversity: Each region in the game features unique mechanics, such as bottles in the “I Fell Tower” level or chillies in “Mum Bae.” These distinctive elements keep the gameplay fresh and encourage players to think creatively as they adapt to new challenges.
Game Structure & Objectives
The structure of Ball-Z revolves around the player completing challenging levels. Each level has its own set of unique mechanics or objects that interact with the ball in specific ways, requiring the player to adapt and come up with creative solutions. The ultimate objective in each level is to get the ball to the golden coin, signaling the completion of the puzzle. With a progression system tied to completing previous levels, the player unlocks new and more complex challenges.
Level 1: New-Yorkie – The player starts in a simple environment, learning the mechanics of drawing lines to control the ball's movement. This level introduces the basic gameplay without overwhelming the player.
Level 2: I Fell Tower – This level introduces interactive objects like bottles that affect the ball’s movement, forcing players to think creatively and use the environment to their advantage.
Level 3: Mum Bae – Players are introduced to new mechanics, such as chillies, that add additional layers of challenge and fun to the puzzle-solving process.
Level 4: Shang High – As the final region, this level incorporates all previously learned mechanics and combines them into a complex puzzle that challenges players to think on their feet and adapt to new situations.