Eggsile
Overview
Eggsile is a Cooperative Puzzle-Platformer where you play as two penguins trying to take thheir ever-growing Egg to Safety.
Year
2025
Duration
4 Weeks
Role
Team Size
Level and Puzzle Designer, 3CS, Product Owner
10
Genres
COOP
Puzzle
Platformer
Gameplay
Concept
The theme we needed to build around was growth and fragility. To represent this theme we designed a coop game where you play with a partner carrying an evergrowing Egg to the end. As the Egg grows it evoloves and it's mechanics change. The game is separated into 3 chapters.
I wanted the egg to act as the mechanic that pushes players to cooperate, therefore the player holding the egg won't be able to slide or jump and can only throw it to the other player. This pushes players to discuss and cooperate together in order to progress through the levels.
Level Concepting
Since this game is targeted towards younger audiences it is important that the game's mechanics are very easy to learn so I created a set of rules for me and other designers to follow:
-
Levels Should Always Require Both Players to Complete the Level
- Levels Should Not introduce More than One Mechanic At a Time
- Levels Should Reinforce the Previously Taught Mechanic by integrating in some way
I use simple 2D top-down overviews to prototype the levels before implementing them.
Blockout
As I worked on the "First Chapter" of the game it is very important that I set the tone for the game. Puzzles should be simple but inform the players of all the necessary mechanics.
For me it was very important to limit the amount of noise in the level to push players to focus on the mechanics they were just taught. This meant reducing clutter in the environment and only using contrasting colors on objects that are necessary for solving the puzzle.
Reflection
I was given a lot of responsibility this project as I was both the Product Owner and Lead Designer. I learned a lot about leadership and the importance of setting Design Pillars to help guide discussions.
I enjoyed working on the puzzle genre again, it's a genre I have a lot of experience in but this time I had to make sure I keep the challenges simple and intuitive. This meant having to playtest early and make quick and informed changes. It taught me a lot about the difficulties of designing the on-boarding of the game, learnings I will take into future projects.