Astraphobia
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itch io
Student project created by 7 UOWM students
Genre: Puzzle Platformer
Develop Time: 3 Months
Role: Level Designer
Focus: Level Design, Mechanics
Platform: PC
Engine: Unity
Description
Astraphobia is a 2D Puzzle Platform game. The player plays as a young teen who is afraid of lightning and finds his way out of the dark forest. The game’s main feature is using lighting to illuminate the surroundings and solve the environmental puzzle. At the same time, lighting also causes stress to the teen, reaching a certain stress level will cause the teen over frightened and die.
Design Process
When designing Astraphobia, I aimed to distinguish it from other platformer puzzle games by introducing a light sight mechanic that challenges players' short-term memories and encourages them to figure out puzzles.
Inspiration
Astraphobia is a Puzzle Platformer game inspired by Limbo, a Puzzle Platformer game, and other similar games such as Inside and Little Nightmare.
Core Mechanics and Levels
In this game, the core mechanics work around lighting. Player use it to brighten up their surroundings, understand the level layout, and interact with puzzles. Since the game is consistently dark, relying on lighting and sound is crucial. However, overuse of it can lead to stress and results in Game Over.
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*Level layout draw in paint
When designing the level, I also researched the games mentioned above to learn from their level design. I aimed to discover the most effective ways to create my level, ensuring it interacts well with the core mechanics while avoiding repetition or directly copying elements from those games.
Self Analysis
In my view, the game excelled in quality but fell short in quantity. We successfully implemented engaging core mechanics with minimal bugs and technical issues, creating a captivating atmosphere through art. However, we could only deliver a single short level despite having sketched plans for 3 levels. Time constraints hindered us, but the experience gained is invaluable for future projects.
