2D PUZZLE SIDESCROLLER

INTRODUCTION

This game was made during the EJVM Springjam 2025 by a team of 5 dedicated members. The theme for this GameJam was "Charge" and we implemented it in different aspects of the game, such as the battery-powered door, dash and the jumppad to name a few.

Caught in the wilderness by scientists to perform robotic experiments, a rabbit and an ostrich must escape from the laboratory. The two must team up to resolve puzzles in this cute high voltage side-scroller platformer. Lift boxes, electrify doors, reignite elevators and more to make your way to the end.

ROLE

Level Designer

YEAR

2025

PROJECT DETAILS

Developed in 4 weeks
Made in Unreal Engine 5
Level Design Blockout
Environment Art
Level Sequences

PRE-PRODUCTION

References

Workflow

Paper Design

I do a first Paper Draw Design to setup the Golden Path that the player will get, adding obstacles and buildings based on the gameplay mechanics listed in my requirements.

Blockout Process and Iterations

At this point, I open up the Game Engine and start my Blockout. During the whole process, I will try to improve my design by Playtesting multiple times and fix issues I might find.

First Blockout Iteration

Final Iteration

Final Design

Level Flow

Since there are 10 levels, I will show the level flow of the biggest one I made

Dash to charge

Box Spawner

Ability to take 2 batteries

Platform puzzle

End level

Teleport battery

Enable Ostrich platform

Open path to Bunny

Get the collectible

Level Design Techniques

Leading Lines

To guide the player, we added Leading Lines with Yellow Color across the level. There is the stripes on the walls, electric wires that turn green when the power is on and wires on battery sockets that show what is being activated by the socket.

Movement

The moving platforms are showing the Golden path to the player. Also, the pressure plate VFX is in square shape to show the player that a box can be put on it.

Gating Player Progression

In every levels, we use different types of gates. We slow down the player's progression with Soft Gates and challenge him/her with Harder puzzles, the Hard Gates. We did not use Back Gates as we wanted that the player could backtrack to the beginning of the level if he/she missed a collectible.

Lights

Lights are good way to guide the player. For instance, the doors have a red light on them that turns green when the door has been properly activated.

Verticality

In a 2D sidecroller, Verticality is really important otherwise it is boring. During all the game, the player will constantly be in a different height to move a box, activate a switch, take battery, put it in a socket, etc.

Conclusion and Thoughts

Full Playthrough

It was our first team project where we had to take all the decisions about a game. I was the team lead to manage tasks and follow up with every team member. It was a challenging project in a lot of aspects, but it was also a rewarding one, and I learned a lot about myself and game development.