Reflection #4: “Cube Shooter”

For our final design challenge, I reiterated on a digital game I created in my freshman year at TCNJ. I was able to playtest the updated version in class. In the game, the player is a cube that shoots smaller cubes. The player’s objective is to defend themselves from the enemies, and collect power-ups to score more points. The player would win if a million points or higher were scored.

When I play-tested in class, the players responded positively to my game. They thought it was fun and addicting to play, probably due to its fast pace. The players had a little trouble collecting the power-ups at first. I think I made them a little too small. They also had a little trouble understanding what each power-up did. However, not much explanation about the game was required, as the objective was pretty straightforward.

The players did not do anything I didn’t expect them to do, as their only task was to defend themselves from the enemies rushing towards them. I believe that the players found my game fun. They enjoyed it because it was simple, yet challenging. The larger enemies caught the eyes of the players, as they were larger, and took up more of the screen. The power-ups also stood out to them. Once they knew what each one did, they were eager to use them for as long as they would last.

Most of the things in my game worked. The only thing that didn’t work was the respawning of the power-ups. I had originally intended for each power-up to respawn after a certain period of time. However, I was unable to achieve this. It made the game harder with only one chance at collecting each power-up, so I adjusted the score points the player got for shooting the enemies.

From this experience, I learned that players like games that are simple, yet challenging. This game was pretty successful in achieving that goal. For the future, I would get the power-ups to respawn later in the game. I would also add another power-up that increased the player’s firing rate for a certain amount of time. I think that would be something fun to include. Overall, I enjoyed reiterating on this game, and creating something that others could enjoy playing.