A Knight and his Ghost - 'Change' Gamejam
A Knight and his ghost - A Jam game!
Pitch:
This Jam had the theme of 'Change' , a quick brainstorm about interpretations of the theme ideas lead to 'The change in state of life' meaning the transition from alive to dead and back again. This quickly unfolded into a puzzle game in which dying is part of the solution.
Gameplay:
You move around a 2-dimensional map falling in from the top, and looking for an exit at the bottom. Boxes can be pushed around, and jumped onto, buttons can be pressed dropping boxes from above, doors can be opened using orbs, and lastly you can pick up hearts to become alive.
Whenever you die in the game, you will turn into the ghost of the knight, this ghost has unique abilities like going through objects, and floating, this will become useful :)
Style:
Graphically, the game features a simple one-bit pixel art style with a pink color scheme, when you turn into a ghost a shader is applied to the tilemap turning it slightly green.
Comments
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HOLY F---! I just finished on CoolMathGames and it was insane! As someone who is starting level design, it really makes me wonder htf you came up with levels? what is your process for making levels?
hi, i’m really glad you enjoyed the game! :)
To help you on your way with level design, I will attempt to describe my process without giving too much away ;)
As you will have seen while playing, the first lavel is all about introducing the basic game mechanics in a way that is informative, and (somewhat) mandatory. I always try to show the player exactly what I want them to do, while helping them to do it.
I also try to keep the goal clear for the player, and I try to show them where to go. In A Knight and his Ghost, the player is dropped into each level, indicating that the drop is the goal!
That was the first level, for the second level I try to introduce the advance gameplay mechanics like how death is part of the game, and not a gameover. I try to keep the goal just out of reach and let the player die, highlighting the heart, and showing that the heart is the new temporary goal.
when designing te rest of the levels i always set myself a challenge ie. “How small can i possible make a level”, or “can i make a level in two parts”, or something akin to that, to inspire me and keep me designing something new every time.
When I have a set of levels I always try to rearrange their order, to make the difficulty progression as smooth as possible in my own opionion. A good way to test you levels is to try and break them. Also try to have someone else play your levels, and improve on the points that they struggle with. Dont look for compliments, look for critique.
hope this helps you design fun and creative levels! Good luck and feel free to message me if you need anything ;)
how do you go about designing puzzles? do you come up with an idea and then combine it with another one? or just randomly place stuff till something works?
I start out coding the base mechanics, then I sketch up a simple level that follows these mechanics. With that level I start testing ideas, all the what if’s, and how can I’s.
Sometimes levels just appear as a full formes idea, and sometimes they are forced into existence. But a puzzle to me is a gameplay mechanic + skill (understanding).
To make a good puzzle you must understand how the entire set of mechanics play together, to identify and use all the funny quirks to your advandtage. Make something and then make levels bades on how it breaks.
Do keep in mind that not all “breaks” are good, but some will lead you to wonder how a level could be bades on Discovery and mastery of the mechanic and its breaking quirk.
hope that was useful, do let me know if anything is unclear :)
Great game, I had a lot of fun with this one.
Glad to hear it! :)
A Knight and his Ghost (GamePlay Walkthrough)
Great concept and level design; love the art style! We would love to have this game on CoolmathGames.com. Please email us at games@coolmath.com if you're interested!
only took 8 months, but yall picked the right game!
Very original, I loved it!
Thank you very much :)
Love the concept..!
Thank you, I really tried to get a vibe going, and a general concept for the game that was cohesive in both gameplay and art :)
Esta bueno el juego, muy entretenido y con un estilo de juego distinto al normal. Muy bueno
Muchas gracias amigo :)
This game is very cool! Congrats.
Thank you so much!