Games
| Grady's Adventure |
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(latest revision: 2008/03/17) In this adventure/puzzle, guide Grady the robot to build a robot by finding the three components and returning them to the frame. You need upgrades to move (wheel, wing, fin, etc.) but can only hold three at a time, so you need to think about which you hold at any time. The game was inspired by Warren Robinett's "Adventure" that he wrote for Atari in 1978, specifically by the bat. |
| Jig Easy, Sam |
(latest revision: 2007/10/1) This was an entry for JayIsGames Casual Game Design Competition #4. It's an odd game that is essentially a prototype for something more complete. The initial idea was to have a "Tower Defence" kind of game where the 'enemies' were bouncing balls rather than marching monsters. About an hour before the game was to be submitted I realized it was just too hard, so I added the final element: clocks, which have teh result of now making the game too easy. In developing games, the coding can be a challenge, and the graphics can be a challenge, but the biggest one to me is the balance of easy/difficult and frustrating/boring. I think this is a fun game for about 10 minutes. It is a "casual game", after all. |
| Parley |
(latest revision: 1.3 2007/8/17) This was an entry for JayIsGames Casual Game Design Competition #3 I created with Joe Versoza. It's a card game with a unique deck, containing up to 5 suits and up to 5 ranks. Unlike in a standard deck of cards, the suits are hierarchical, and also use a bit of rock-paper-scissor logic to determine what card beats another. Also, the ranks are hierarchical, as they are for regular cards, except in Parley the 'Spy' card (2-to-lowest rank) can beat the 'Queen' card (highest rank). Although it may sound complicated, it's pretty easy to pick up the rules after playing a round or two. The new revision fixes problems with the AI bing too difficult. |
| Frog and Vine |
Frog and Vine (latest revision: 2007/4/9)
Jay, of JayIsGames had a game design competition and I entered with this one. It has 4 puzzles, three of which are original. Looking back, it's more of a prototype than a finished game. The tree puzzle in particular has potential to be developed into something interesting. |
| Go Rabbit, Go! |
Go Rabbit, Go! (beta latest revision: 2007/3/2)
This game was developed over a few days as an entry in the DonationCoder.com Accessibility Game Design Competition. The parameters were to simply make a 'switch game' (or alternately a game relying only on audio). A switch game is a game with the simplest interface, a button that is either pressed or not - the space bar, mouse button, or other controller. The idea is that people with limited mobility may not be able to use conventional game controllers. Additionally, I consulted with representatives of the Univeristy of Delaware Center for Disability Studies in coming up with a game that could be played by people with a wide variety of abilities or disabilities. In addition to the switch interface, some of the considerations were:
Production Notes |
| Escape to Obion |
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Because of the surprising popularity of the Obion games, our bandwidth charges have tripled, and we will have to limit production of new games.
To help with our hosting costs, we are inviting you to make a PayPal donation. Even $1 will help. |
Episode 5: The Chemisphere (beta latest revision: 2006/3/2)
length: long difficulty: hard This game is more linear than the others, which is necessary because we've added level codes for the 4 levels in the game. The levels represent junctures in the game that tell you that you've solved everything necessary to get to that point. The puzzles get increasingly complicated in the game, but should not require taking notes in the way that #3 required. Still, you will need to jot down a few things. There is one musical puzzle in the game, so you will need to be able to hear sound to get to the end. edit 2006/3/2: Added better feedback on last two 'locks' that open 'level 4', brightened colors on the electronic symbol tiles to make them more distinguishable from one another. edit 2006/3/1: It had been possible to bypass the final puzzle simply by clicking one button - oops. But that's fixed now. |
Episode 4: Closer to Zero (latest revision: 2006/2/10)
length: medium long difficulty: very hard Week 4, Game 4. Many found #3 too hard, and while we could edit that game, it makes more sense to move forward - though I may add more clues to #3 at a later date for future players. In this one the standalone puzzles are straightforward, but you still will need to take some notes in order to get to the end. We also advance the story more through found pages from a diary of one of the main villain's primary henchmen. I had become fascinated with Turing's cracking of the Nazi's Enigma machine, and tried to replicate one for this game. It came off rather well, and it will be a pity if we can't use it again in a future episode. edit 2006/2/10: added some additional hints in game |
Episode 3: The Alchemist's Notebook (latest revision: 2006/2/14)
length: medium long difficulty: very hard Not sure how long we can keep up a weekly publishing schedule before running out of ideas, but #3 is done. This one is quite a bit trickier than the other two. It's less about stand-alone puzzles in the game (although the initial map puzzle, a "Bishop's Square" - like a Rubik's Cube jigsaw - can be a bit of a stumper) and more about comprehending subtle hints and gathering all the information necessary to get to the end. You'll probably need pencil and paper to keep track of everything. edit 2006/2/14: added some additional hints in game edit 2006/2/25: fixed error: in the Sun book, the symbol for 'E' was represented by Venus, instead of Saturn |
Episode 2: The Hidden Map (latest revision: 2006/1/27)
length: long difficulty: hard One week later, here is the sequel to 'Obion', with about 5 times the number of puzzles and interactivity. As in the first one, one of the guiding principles was to have the puzzles be unique and challenging, but also to have them be solvable through 'brute-force' clicking around just in case they're too tough for any particular player. |
Episode 1: Fire and Ice (latest revision: 2006/2/11)
The first point-and-click adventure we've done, which is a surprise now since it's so much easier to code than other sorts of games. length: short difficulty: medium The challenge for the designer in this genre is in creating puzzles that are tough but not impossible. I think casual games players are a little more likely to get exasperated than they would be with a console or PC game. edit 2006/2/11: added some additional hints in game |
| OutFoxxed! |
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OutFoxxed! (latest revision: 2004/12/18)
Designed and developed by Matt Slaybaugh, Joe Versoza, Isabel Staicut, and Dave Maccarella OutFoxxed! is a two-player game using Flash Communications Server that combines elements of Rock-Paper-Scissors with traditional board games such as Checkers and Go |
| Gladiator |
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Gladiator (latest revision: 2004/05/10)
Designed and developed by Matt Slaybaugh, Wontae Kim, and Joey Silayan Gladiator is a one-player game with a core mechanic of having to collect spent arrows before being able to fire again. |
| Gladiator Concept Realizations |
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WolfHunter
This first version is weak in gameplay, primarily because the AI is too rigid and the number of user-choices on any turn is too limited. It's also almost impossible to win. WolfHunter II: Catalaunian Fields This second version has a much larger board, which opens up the number of choices too much, resulting in a lot of meaningless clicking. This version is too easy. WolfHunter III: Wittgenstein's Revenge This penultimate version has an appropriate board-size and more challenging play. An uncaught bug/feature allows multiple wolves in any given space, making it difficult to win. |
| IceBreaker Concept Realizations |
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IceBreaker never made it past the concept-realization phase, but it has potential to be a decent game.
Icebreaker This first version explores the idea of using a Sokoban-style game mechanic against a static, firing enemy AI. It's tricky to win, but possible, mostly an element of timing rather than strategy. Icebreaker II This second version has a mobile enemy AI and more stratgic options Icebreaker III The final study of the block-pushing mechanic against an enemy AI offers the most strategy, but suffers in the same way as the second in that choices are limited. |
| Exercises |
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Ant Farm
I later learned of a number of similar games, but this was my first effort at employing multiple 'cellular automata'-style agents. Ant Farm The same game with an auto-generated music feature that is somewhat interesting. Defender An experiment in porting the classic Atari game Defender in a slightly different context. |