In the general specialism lectures we got into groups of 5 and designed assets for a possible tile matching game focused around fantasy forests drawing on inspiration from movies such as Dark Crystal (1982), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and Legend (1985). We focused on assets around each of our own specialisms. We started producing assets for a tile matching game similar to Candy Crush and Bejeweled. Design wise, it was quite simple, having to match 3 or more of the same tile to add to a score bar that you need to fill to move onto the next level.
The image above is a ‘game in a frame’ of the tile matching game we designed. A simple mechanic for a special tile which would take the shape of a crystal would destroy all the tiles in a cross pattern centered on the crystal tile. This would give a larger sum of score to the score bar but is significantly rarer than the other tiles.
Tiles can be swapped with tiles adjacent with them which is the way players try to match tiles of the same kind with each other to gain more score.
Further improvements
I have thought of new ideas to improve the game including more variety of special tiles and how they act as well as trying to match the theme of the game to influence the design of the game more. For example, since the game theme is heavily on the enchanted fantasy forest and good vs. evil vibe, having the special tiles feel like they do more magical things such as swirling patterns or destroying other tiles in a more spell kind of manner. This could in turn make the game more unique and in tune with the theme.
