iOS Project: Rundown

Title: The Gear Tower
Genre: Puzzle Platformer
Players: Singleplayer
Platform: iOS, Android, browser, PC

As I may have explained during the presentation, the game is a platformer with a heavier focus on problem solving rather than defeating enemies. You play as Rota, a tinkerer with the goal of scaling the titular structure in hopes of finding advanced technology and other valuables, some of which have been hidden as long as the colossal ancient tower stood. Dare you try and take on the challenge?

Originally this project was not intended to be for the handheld platforms, although the opportunity to test the capabilities offered by the technology could not be passed up. From what I have witnessed there is a distinct lack of games with such genre on them for a variety of reasons, one of which is the demographic being people that want to play these games as a means to pass the time in a matter of minutes. However as a game designer I am compelled to fill in a very evident niche in the market for those that want more for their money as well as it being long-lasting and carry a high replay value. Considering the popularity of a game like Angry Birds (which I still think is a direct rip off of Crush the Castle) there may as well be a rise in popularity for arcade titles and those with simple controls that do not obstruct the view.

The game has also been envisioned with 3D in mind as it would open a lot of gameplay opportunities regardless of the direction the development goes. This also opens up the possibility of something I like to call metafeatures, which are basically concepts within the game which do not only add a new component to the mechanics but the whole infrastructure of the game itself. A few examples of this would include the PipBoy 3000 in Fallout 3 and New Vegas, where not only it serves as an aide to the player character but as your very interface and menus as well. I would like to take this a bit further by adding new game modes simply via acquisition of objects in the game such as "surface boots" that allow you to play certain levels with a different perspective (i.e. you could play a vertical level horizontally, third person, etc.). 

This is an example of how it may work directly, using Gunstar Heroes as an example:

As well as unique levels that offer a bit more of a challenge as seen in Dynamite Headdy:

The "tower" level as seen in the video below has really caught my attention as they have made it work without the use of 3D technology and was also used in other games such as Battletoads and Nebulus (suggested by Chris for reference):

I already am in the process of designing a sample level to experiment the possible challenges you could overcome in the game, since I already finished a design for Rota:

This design and style seemed appropriate for the game and platform. I wanted to go for something simple yet iconic, hence I gave her a head-mounted lens that doubles as the game interface. The more items the player finds in the tower the more features they would unlock, such that each item would be unique and something they should make a priority to collect. Some of them may even be required to reach the very peak, to reach the cream of the crop...