A Mushroot Story
Jan 22–28, 2023
Role: Game Programmer, Tech Designer, Game Designer
In this coming of age point and click puzzle adventure, Kiino the young mushroom has finally decided to move out of their Grandma Potello's home. As Kiino prepares for their moving day, Grandma Potello asks them to find a special sheet of music before Kiino leaves for good. Kiino must locate all four Music Sheets by interacting with their environment and solving various puzzles along the way, exploring their roots and their past in doing so.
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This game was made for the Global Game Jam 2023.
The Concept
The theme of the game jam was Roots. We began by brainstorming the concept and listing potential genres for our game. Then, we listed some simple ideas and voted on them anonymously. This is how we settled on a point-and-click, time travelling adventure!
An idea map that I sent the team to spark our brainstorming.
The Team
Our team for this jam was very well rounded and a joy to work with! I worked most closely with Aaron Scott and Gabrielle Poirier. Aaron kept our documentation highly organized and assisted me with programming tasks. Meanwhile, Gaby blocked out the levels and worked on narrative, so I worked a lot with her to set up the many triggers within the game.
Chicken and egg help each other out by toggling switches.
My Role
Areas of Growth
Tutorials need lots of attention
We had some fun UI popups for tutorials in this game, but there were still rough edges. For one, there's a splitting path in the tutorial that might confuse players, especially because an inaccessible nest is dangled right in front of them. It's an unintentional red herring. Also, some mechanics may be unclear, such as needing to bring the chicken and egg together to heal at a nest. A little text would go a long way here.
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Everything needs feedback
In hindsight, some elements of gameplay are unclear due to missing or inconsistent feedback. When the egg is sufficiently damaged, the chicken refuses to throw it, but this relationship is only signaled to the player once (and this signal is easy to miss). Furthermore, the chicken's jump UI does not always update properly upon recharging at a nest.
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Other Improvements
Treat nests as checkpoints
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Currently the player can only reset to the beginning of the game, which is very frustrating and could cause players to quit.
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Camera controls
Given that the player aims and throws the egg with the mouse, I think panning the screen somewhat with the mouse would have been a nice touch. It would give the player a more active ability to look around, which can add an inves tigative element to puzzles.
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Swimming lessons
Sometimes, the egg was unable to exit water. I fixed this after the jam, since it could make progress impossible and force the player to restart.
Egg purgatory
Egg lifejacket
Credits
Gameplay Programming, Tech Design, Game Design
Narrative Design, Game Design
Composer, Game Design
UI Design, Narrative Design, Level & Puzzle Design, Game Design
Art & Illustration, Game Design
Gameplay Programming, Tech Design, Game Design