I threw together a quick 2-player huddle game in honor of GGJ ’11. Play it online!
It’s getting there!
I made this sketch in two nights, as part of a general quest to find a form of game design which is comfortable enough to be a form of play in itself. As it turns out, Unity makes 3d exploration game creation into just such an activity.
I just submitted my proposal for Brand New Colony, for the Fox Fellowship. Download it here.
I think the current state of video games is made of on the one hand, the big mainstream makers who evolved out of the original companies, and on the other hand people who were kids when those companies were making games. Now, we find ourselves uniquely literate in the form, and we’ve come of age as designers exactly as a tremendous boom of availability of middleware makes it pretty easy to make complex games for free.
After a few years of returning to our roots and admitting that there was magic in the gaming past which has become very rare, I think it’s natural to feel a little sick of that strictly retro fare, and now we ought to go pretty crazy trying to discover veins of that magic with new designs.
This post was going to be longer originally, but I think it’s done. :)
Game Website: www.suitsgame.com
Suits is a Facebook strategy game in which each player is a middle manager for a classic Bond-movie-style evil organization. As a team of managers, you work together to complete a nefarious plot to take over the world, while also stabbing each other in the back in order gain favor over your peers in the organization.
Players conspire to send henchmen on missions throughout the world, with the ultimate goal of placing a deadly laser on the moon while earning the most kudos points with the Boss. Remember, it doesn’t matter who does the work, as long as you get the credit.
A combination of shared and personal mission goals leads to complex strategies. Will you be a team player or a backstabber?
I worked with Sean Bouchard to design the game system for Suits. It was a challenging and intriguing problem to design a game which is simultaneously cooperative and competitive, allows for asynchronous play, doesn’t penalize the team for individual inaction, and provides an engaging level of strategy while remaining accessible as a Facebook title.
The world map, and your henchmen.
Send your henchmen on nefarious missions.
Suits
2010
Facebook Game
My Title: Game Designer, Producer
Team:
• Lead Designer: Sean Bouchard
• Game Design: Sean Bouchard, Bill Graner
• Producer: Bill Graner
• Software Development: Joey Kohn, Kevin Lee, Rhett Farney,
Brian Valdillez, Josh Martin, Patrick Monroe, Elliot Lee
Go ahead, give it a try!
W, A, S, D to move. Q and E to fly up and down. Up and Down arrow keys to deform the landscape near you.
Try making some white peaks and some green grass!
Download for Windows
Download for Mac
-Bill
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