Instruction
Unity
Academic
2 People
15 Weeks
Core Tasks:​​
-
Innovate to create engaging gameplay for a constantly playable clicker game
-
Create a progression system to provide pacing for a narrative
-
Develop Personas, Pillars, and Affinity Charts to guide long term development
-
Script all gameplay mechanics using C#
-
Meet TCRs for publication on Steam
Shipped: 2/02/24
Written: 10/4/24
Overview
Instruction was my Freshman year game project, completed over the course of a single semester. This was my first foray into full digital game production, and taught me a ton about project management, design, testing, iteration, polish, and much much more. I formally served as the team's Tech Lead, though I filled in as the Design Lead in their frequent absence. I did a wide variety of work on this project, ranging from creating a central progression system, developing User Personas, implementing all gameplay elements in C#, and meeting TCRs for publication.
By The Numbers
Released February 2nd, 2024
440
Reviews
Total Steam Reviews
94%
Positive
Steam User
Rating
68+
Thousand
Downloads
2.2+
Million
Total YouTube Views
Updated 8/12/24
User Reviews
"I could play this game for hours if it had enough content."
- Rychievid
"Beat in about an hour, best game I've played in a long time"
- Cave_Gremlin
"Came in expecting an idle game, went out wanting a sequel"
- Rue04
"I'd definitely play a bigger version of this game, if it were made. Might even pay a bit for it. Great game, would play again"
- TemaTomo
"This game was a lot of fun!" "Would love a sequel or similar style game, maybe with a longer gameplay!"
- Wulfrahven
Pre-production
From the start, we knew we wanted the game to revolve around a false signifier, with a large, unpressable red button in the center of the screen. We took the bulk of our inspiration from mid-2010s Clicker games, as well as the more meta elements from games like The Stanley Parable, and the aesthetics from Please Don't Touch Anything.
​
We started by defining our target audience, and developing User Personas and Game Pillars to guide development. We then used Affinity Charts to cross compare our Feature Set and Pillars with our Personas. While this process was very poorly documented, it was pivotal in guiding our vision for the game throughout development.
Please Don't Touch Anything
The Stanley Parable
Adventure Capitalist
Core Gameplay
While the narrative designer led the charge on establishing the game's story, I went to work on figuring out the core gameplay.
​
I knew that for this narrative-centric clicker game to work, we needed to keep the player engaged throughout the entire experience. Most clicker games rely on passive income systems, allowing players to make progress while offline, and rewarding them for continually logging back in. I needed to find a way to keep the player engaged without utilizing these systems, and ensure the progression worked without them.
Intro Dialogue - Steam Build
The Buttons
​To do this, I created five unique buttons to be introduced throughout the game, each with their own unique function. I divided each of these buttons into two categories, active buttons, which reward constant use, and passive buttons, which reward occasional use.
​
Each button introduced is made to evolve the way the game is played, combating the stagnancy that would otherwise set in from mundane, constant clicking. While the game intentionally starts with buttons our target audience will be most familiar with, such as a the Basic and Gauge Buttons, by the end of the game it becomes a much more unique and engaging experience, juggling the Tank, Gauge, and Grid buttons.
Alpha
Heading into the course's Alpha phase, we were way ahead of schedule. At this point, we had every button working, a dialogue system with file I/O, and the core gameplay sequencing finished. I took the opportunity this presented to focus solely on solidifying the game's progression system, with the goal of freezing all progression related elements by the end of Alpha. This would give the narrative designer the maximum time possible to iterate on the narrative pacing, which was dependent on the game's progression. ​
Early Alpha build
Progression
Following the standard with the genre, players progress by purchasing upgrades that improve their output. While the output improvement was kept simple, the upgrade cost formula would be where the majority of the work needed to be done. I used Desmos to graph out the cost per upgrade, and the output per upgrade, then used both of those to create a clicks per upgrade graph. This was the main metric I used to balance the pacing of the progression. I used this metric, some clicks per second data for various testers, and a pacing chart from the narrative designer to align the graph to her desired pacing as best I could.
​
I also added in a multiplier to a button's output when the player gets a tier upgrade. These were earned after getting 25 regular upgrades. This allowed different buttons to surge in effectiveness at different points, making the tier upgrade more rewarding, and throwing off the balance of the game to make it less stagnant.
Clicks per upgrade graph for the active button line.
Beta
Heading into Beta, we continued to be in a pretty good spot. The progression system had been solidified, and solid work had been done iterating on the game's story. That being said, testing feedback was showing a few pain points that we wanted to take this milestone to iron out. The alternating button was receiving mixed feedback, and was by far our lowest rated in our post-playtest survey. In addition, many people were somewhat unsatisfied with the game's ending. We took beta to focus on addressing these two issues, and left more polish-related tasks for Gold.
Early Beta build
Alternating Issues
Up until this point, most of the buttons I had created during the prototype phase had held up quite well. Some needed some improvements in giving the player better signifiers and feedback, but were mostly well received. The alternating button did not fair so well. After many rounds of testing and iteration, we were able to pin down player's issues with each version of the button, and ended with a version that was rated higher than most of our other buttons.
Puzzles
Alongside fixing the issues with the Alternating Button, we also added a hidden second ending this milestone. Players could reset the game and unlock a screwdriver, allowing them to unscrew the button in the center, revealing three puzzles, and a smaller button underneath. These puzzles were a tough design challenge, especially given the time constraints.
​
Adding this was a risky decision this late in development, but we felt it was right considering how well these meta, secret puzzle elements aligned with our primary persona. We leaned heavily on playtesting to work out how to guide players to the puzzles' solutions, and iron out confusion.
Instruction Manual - Steam Build
Gold
During Gold, we took our last few weeks to polish up the elements creating the most friction during testing. I used Figma to paint over all the assets with a more cohesive visual style, and improved feedback for various interactions. We also added more feedback for completing each step of the puzzles, so that players would know they were on the right track, and improved the initial clues to be more readable. Lastly, we did a final pass on dialogue triggers, cutting those that were less impactful, and improving readability.​
Gold Build
Lessons
Overall, this project taught me a ton about game development. The most impactful thing from this project was learning that Pillars and Personas are the key to shipping a good product. Without the early work we did to solidify these things, we would have been aimless in development, and the work we created wouldn't have been as enjoyable when it released. This was also the first longer term project I worked on, which really exemplified just how useful playtesting is. There was an immense amount of feedback that I never would have identified without it. In the end, this project was an incredible opportunity to learn and practice some of the core tenets of game design, and I'm incredibly happy with the product that came out of it.
True Ending - Steam Build
