Icosphere was one of my first game jams. During this time, I learned hard lessons on scope creep. I was new to completing games and had previously had the tendency to dream big with project goals. With Icosphere the vision was grand from the beginning. As shown below, I was trying to use the bulky Puppet Master asset to create ragdolls to interact with. Ultimately, we chose to salvage the completed movement mechanics and create a wave shooter. Although it was frustrating to have wasted so much time on unused systems, I learned that it is not the complexity of a system which makes it fun for a user, but the gameplay opportunities that it opens.
What I Learned
From the development of Icosphere I learned how a simple and fun mechanic can make even a basic wave shooter interesting. I also learned how useful drip-feeding content to the player can be for longevity. For instance, locking upgrades behind currency lets the user feel like they are progressing toward a meaningful goal, rather than mindlessly fighting waves of enemies until they lose. I also learned a lot about 3D workflows in Unity and the importance of creating modular assets. I spent a lot of time using Unity’s physics engine to create the movement and was happy with the results.