I've always been passionate about making games. While my main role in development is as an artist, I also explore game design as a hobby. Over the years, I’ve brewed a few indie concepts and have already worked with very small teams in game jams and sprints.
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This section showcases my design-oriented artwork, where art meets game mechanics. It also has random musings I have over various genres.
2D Arena Fighter with MOBA mechanics
With the popularity of League of Legends, Super Smash Bros and casual 2d online games like Mini Militia, a quick 5-10 minute action multiplayer game sounds like a game I would like to play.
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The aim of this exercise is to come up with quick sloppy silhouettes and ideate on character abilities.
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Once the thumbnails are locked, its easy enough to flesh out a detailed render. It just takes time that I could possibly delegate to others.
Mage
Let's start the character design with the Mage archetype. Fairly standard, the mage should have a bunch of AOE abilities, big damage and possibly a crowd control ability to get out of sticky situations.
The last design definitely has a unique silhouette and I like the Indian representation, which the game is going to have a lot of.
Tank
Every fighting game needs a damage sponge that is balanced by low attack damage and telegraphed moves. I usually find tanks the most boring to play, but let's see how we can make this archetype more interesting.
Again going with the Indian variant, because honestly its the most inspired. While I'm not terribly excited for a fat guy to be the comic-relief character, I can see a bunch of cool moments for a character like this that is big, bold and flexible.
Swordsman
Every edgelord's wet dream is a slender man with a larger-than-life sword. And we gotta deliver that power fantasy without fail. I knew from the get-go that this has to have a specific silhouette: baggy bottom half with some secondary movement on top to add visual flair. And ofcourse the bulky sword!
I went with the obvious anime design as an ode to Bleach. Its just works! A killer 3 combo melee attack notwithstanding, the other abilities need to complement the hack n slash play style. Maybe a parry would be fun!
Gunslinger
A glass cannon that is dangerous when they keep their distance from you. They pack powerful DPS but has a high skill ceiling to play without dying too quickly.
I aged down the chosen design to add some variety to the cast. A kid wielding a gun sounds like good balance in today's world, you'd have to agree.
Archer
Another AD carry that has low mobility, but an archer that is nimble and acrobatic enough to have a few dodges in the tank could be a play-style worth designing.
I know I know, 3rd Indian design out of 5. But we'll be balancing out the roster eventually. With epics like Mahabharatha, how could I not choose the Indian design.
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Mechanics wise, a volley that covers good area is a must. Maybe a quick back-step and attack is a good idea to dodge at least one of the melee enemies.
Honorable mentions
A Cat-themed Clicker Game
After the development of the Void Troopers game, we had a small brainstorming session to quickly reskin the game. My idea was to add cute cats into the equation and make it funny and meme-able.
First, I started with how the design of the cat, since it'll be the main focus.
After 2 selecting designs, I worked on how the cat's animations and how it'll animate on player interactions and triggers. The aim was to make it cute and funny.
1st concept - Feeding Frenzy
On tapping the screen, food appears and falls on the plate. And the cat gobbles this up periodically. Great potential to make fun animations and add cute sfx which are paramount to keep the players engaged in a clicker game.
2nd concept - Cat Cult
Imagine a temple/shrine where cats are worshiped and the followers throw offerings into the donation box. Once the cat's satisfied with the offerings, it'll ascend to the heavens. The player is also one of the followers and each tap spawns an offering.
Other concepts
Some ideas that had huge potential for virality, but a little under-cooked in terms of gameplay progression.
