Games

I developed these games for a class called Experimental Game Design instructed by Paolo Pedercini. Unlike large gaming corporations, the class focused on creating games that could be seen as art or that focused on alternatice controls and objectives. I really enjoyed the class, and I learned a lot more than I expected that I would. The games below are results of assignments given to me. All the programming was done using Adobe Flash's Actionscript. If you only have time to try one, I encourage you to try "Seedling". Most people seem to like it the best.

This is a text based game that tells a story about a student that is encountering some challenges during his first year of college. Gameplay is styled to look like a chat client, so the player feels like another person is casually talking with them. The program was made with Flash and uses a combination of Actionscript and XML. The game has multiple outcomes, but only one is the best. Try to find it!

CONTROLS: Up/Down Arrows and Spacebar

This game was a collaboration between Tara Helfer and myself. In class we were generating ideas for a shooter game, and our professor decided that we should work as a team. The artwork and characters were done by Tara, while I focused on the programming. The most difficult part of the programming was actually the movement of the bird and the truss that connects the bird. It was hard to make the extension of the truss look natural and follow the bird properly. The experimental part of the game is the lack of a scoring system. There are no distinct levels; however, the bird does grow and shrink as the player collects powerups and hit opponents.

GAMEPLAY: You are a bird trying to escape the constraints of your coo coo clock. However to do so, you must defeat several enemies. Collect powerups from killing enemies to grow, and eventually you will become powerful enough to free yourself. Fly away to the top of the screen to win, but be careful not to hit any enemies along the way!

CONTROLS: Arrows to move; Spacebar to shoot

Seedling is the most experimental and finished game of the one's I developed for my class. It is my favorite game that I made. It was also a collaboration with one of my classmates, Richard Chen. Working with Richard was great. We both came up with ideas to utilize a microphone in our game concepts. I was planning on making a game about blowing a bubble in air, and he was working on a whale concept. When we decided to work together, we used my idea, but Richard thought a seed would be a better object than a bubble. I agreed, and from then on, it was just about getting it done right. I worked primarily on the code, and he did most of the graphics. However, we helped each other out whenever needed, and we constantly bounced ideas around. The game is experimental because a microphone is the only form of input, and there is no real "losing." We had great reactions to the game, and I believe that if we both have some upcoming time, we would like to extend the game. We still have some ideas up our sleeves.

GAMEPLAY: Help the seed escape the dreary cave by blowing it along with you microphone. Blowing into the mic controls the height of the seed, while the horizontal speed is constant. Land in the patches of grass to generate a checkpoint. Watch out for the ceiling and the ground, because the barren land will cause the seed to fall apart and die. Escape the cave to finish.

CONTROLS: Microphone to blow up; Mouse-Click to restart

(If you don't have a mic you can cheat by using the spacebar instead)