Game Jam projects
From 2018 to 2020, I started learning hands-on game design by participating in game jams. As I gained experience, it slowly became my full-time profession. The projects below are a result of this learning process, including the award-winning game Unhackneyed.
Poison Craft is a shopkeeper game where the player is a witch who has to mix ingredients to create the potion - or poison - with the right effect to attend each customer's demand before they give up and leave the store. Pouring the wrong ingredients has a cost, but players have a guide to help mixing correctly.
3rd Godot Wild Jam 2018
Roles and Duties: Game Designer, responsible for:
Designing and documenting game mechanics
2D art of the character and setting
Made in 10 days for a game jam, Poison Craft was one of the first games I created as a game designer, collaborating with a team of 4.
I was responsible for designing the mechanics and writing the Game Design Document to make sure the team shared the same vision. The GDD contained specifications for the features, like how long each mission would take, and a list of all customers requests and the correct recipes to fullfil them. The 2D art of the character and environment were also made by me.
On the beginning, we wanted the game to have a progression system that involved unlocking new ingredients and giving an use for the game currency. We also planned on having more crafting mechanics. However, it didn't take more than 2 days for us to realize it was overscoped. Then we started to cut features, keeping only what was indispensable for the core gameplay.
We were really proud of being able to deliver the project by the end of the game jam and make it available for players on Itch. This experience was fundamental for me to learn about scope and time management.
Contact
Feel free to reach out. I would appreciate a coffee chat!
E-mail: ana.carolina.m.franca@gmail.com