Scurry is a puzzle platformer game where the player controls a rat making its way through an unforgiving New York meets Chicago-themed city in search of safety. As a player, you aim to avoid and outwit dangers such as using trash to hide, bite through cables, or move boxes to clear your path to safety.
Level Design:
As Level Designer, I was responsible for conceptualizing all levels, starting with whiteboard sketches and collaborating with other designers to refine gameplay ideas. Once we had a solid layout, we moved into the engine to grey box the levels and iterate based on how they felt in 3D space. This back-and-forth between conception and grey boxing continued until we were satisfied with the final layouts.
After completing the initial concept phase, I was entrusted with full ownership of the Kitchen Level, where I led the design and development from start to finish, including layout, asset integration, and gameplay flow. This allowed me to focus on creating a cohesive and engaging experience for the player, ensuring the level’s design aligned with the overall vision of the game.
Mechanic Design:
As a Mechanic Designer, I was responsible for defining how the rat would interact with the world, ensuring its abilities were grounded in realism. I led discussions with the whole team to decide which mechanics would best serve the gameplay and narrative, ultimately deciding to keep the rat’s abilities natural, reinforcing its role as an ordinary creature.
Once the rat's mechanics were established, I took the lead on playtesting to ensure its movement and interactions felt intuitive and engaging. As the scope of my responsibilities grew, particularly with designing the kitchen level and the associated hazards, I made the strategic decision to involve another designer to further refine the rat’s mechanics, allowing me to maintain focus on my core tasks while ensuring the best possible outcome for the player experience.
Sound Design:
Given the thematic importance of audio in setting the tone and conveying emotions throughout the game, it was clear that sound would play a central role. Early in the project, I was assigned responsibility for sound design, and I was tasked with overseeing this aspect. In addition to managing audio assets, I enjoyed the opportunity to create basic scripts that interacted with the sound, helping to trigger dynamic audio cues based on gameplay events. I also gained valuable experience in synchronizing audio with animations, ensuring that the sound complemented and enhanced the visual experience.
HTML Maker
