Modified game design

As part of a game design there are many changes that come about. After being paired up with another person we collaborated and came up with another game. Here is our new game:

Hamster Escape


The Story: the game follows a Hamster named Gus whose owners have left for the weekend, but accidentally forgot to take him out of his hamster ball. If that weren’t bad enough Gus is in an intricate hamster cage (and house?) filled with traps that will surely mean the death of the poor hamster. Gus must reach the end of his hamster cage (or front door) although stuck in his ball and gain the freedom and in finite supply of food that he desperately desires.

The Mechanics: The player moves by using the arrow keys (or AWSD). Because the character
is trapped in a ball, he can gain momentum by holding down the right arrow or left arrow key, the trick is slowing down because if too much momentum is gained its hard to stop Gus from falling down the wrong tube leading to his death. However the flip side is some obstacles will require a lot of momentum and therefore the player will need a lot of speed. The player will also have limited jumping ability by pressing the up arrow or W key. Because the game focuses on momentum the more speed a player has the further they will fly when jumping. The player will be given three lives at the beginning of the game and can gain lives by finding food pieces throughout the levels. At certain points in the level a player will be given reaction commands that can help a player to easily accomplish a certain puzzle however if that reaction command comes and goes the player will no longer be able to access the reaction command and will have to complete the level a different way.

The Levels: Each level is a different part of the hamster cage (or house?). There are no enemies in the game except the obstacles. The cage consists of platforms, ramps, springs, hamster wheels and traps that Gus must overcome to reach the end of his cage. All of these are
contained within the tubing Gus is running around in. Essentially it is the biggest and most dangerous hamster cage ever created.


What the Game Teaches: The game teaches several concepts including timing, spatial relationships, momentum and control, and it teaches the player to explore the maze that they are trapped in to overcome the challenges that the levels present. Risk and reward also becomes a factor of the gameplay when a player is trying to gain the most lives possible to finish the game.