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Mole Digs: Fully aware of the consequences
Overview:
Mole Digs: Fully aware of the consequences is a 2D puzzle game ludic sketch about controlling a mole through various levels.
In each level the player must use their abilities to dig and place tiles, each tile functioning differently when broken, to reach the goal.
Design Philosophy:
The core design philosophy of this project is moles. From this, I decided a simple mole puzzle game utilising the placing and destroying tiles to reach objectives would be the best course of action. The primary aim of the level design is to slowly introduce the game's mechanics while also introducing new ones to keep players on their toes while still being manageable.
Design Process:
Core to the development of Mole Digs, extensive playtesting had to be done to ensure the design of the games levels were understandable to players and that the mechanics made sense and spoke to their function. With a lack of art experience, I settled on a simplistic art style that focused on function over form to achieve this. From playtesting, levels were under frequent iteration in terms of difficulty, getting data from as many sources as possible.
Reflection:
On revisiting this project, the main room for improvement seen is, even despite the playtesting, the early level design and the amount of information told to the player. A major hurdle I attempted to overcome when developing this game was how to balance the difficulty of a puzzle game you know the answers to since you developed it yourself. In future however, due to peer review, I now know that there are cases in development such as the very beginning where mechanics such as what each tile does could have been given their own entire level each to introduce them slower, as apposed to introducing them all in the first level. As well as this, some mechanics such as the turrets in later levels could have been better explained through text or level design, as some playtesters were confused how they operated. In conclusion, more care needs to be taken in future projects to ensure mechanics are given more time for the player to experiment with and understand before being presented with a challenge, a general lesson that will be essential for future projects.
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