Journey of the Broken Circle
(Note: In phone browsers this page my show pictures in the wrong order)
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This is the first professional project I have been involved with, recently released on Steam and Nintendo Switch. My roles at Lovable Hat Cult were mainly as a game and level designer intern. I had the opportunity to design two levels of the game, including design specific mechanics for them, as well as helping to polish and expand other preexisting levels.
Levels Breakdown
A full walkthrough of the game is available on this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt_vCLxXXSE If you wish to easily access gameplay of the levels I’ve worked, I have also added time cues in the breakdowns of each level.
- Dark Clouds level (from 1:28:02 to 1:49:45)
This is the main section I have worked on in the game. From prototype to a polished level. I designed the structure of the level and some of the main mechanics that are specific for this section. This level is about the state of mind of Balloon (the partner of Circle). Balloon would feel more and more discouraged by the hazards and eventually deflate.
The mechanic I designed for this level is the “gravitational clouds” which is the main hazard in this section.
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The idea behind the design of these clouds was to find something that was both troublesome for the player but also a key in order to progress in the level. With that, I wanted to reflect on the two different states of mind of the characters (Circle, positive and Balloon, negative). With this design, I had also in mind that this level had to be one of the pivot points when it came to challenge in the game.
The level is structured in a way that the player gets introduced to each type of cloud and that each little challenge adds up to the previous one. The player:
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Learns how gravitational clouds behave.
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Learns how to use it to reach high points.
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Learns how to navigate two clouds together (challenge).
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Learns of a new cloud and what they do.
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Confront a challenge with that new type of cloud.
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Learn of the third type of cloud (because it is a mix of the first and second type it’s easier for the player to understand how it works).
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Challenge with that type of cloud (mix of the previous challenges).
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- Angust level (from 46:30 to 51:26)
I designed this section as an addition to a previous existing level where Circle meets Angust (The Dark Creature). We decided to add a chase section to give the level a more dramatic ending.
Key design elements:
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To show clues for the second section of the level
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When running away from it: Balance between extreme looking jumps and a not too hard difficulty to avoid breaking the pace of the game. The point in this section was not a hard difficulty but the scene needed to look dramatic, so what the player was doing needed to look hard.
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I added the last section to symbolize the descent into depression of the character, the player is not given much control.
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- Grass, snail section level (from 51:30 to 1:02:46)
In this level my tasks were more focused on polishing existing designs and “beautification” (placing the game assets created by the artist in order to make it look nice and finished).
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Other roles in the game:
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Polishing finished levels
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“Beautification”
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Conduct playtests with other people
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QA Testing
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Add bits of dialogues
