A mobile puzzle game based around time travel
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Project info / Game Visual Inspiration / Character Design and Art / In-game Animations / In-game Elements / App screens / In-game screenshot
Role:
Art, Animation
Client:
Benjamin Eskildsen
Tools:
Adobe Photoshop
Project
My client enlisted me to create the in-game and out-of-game art assets for his mobile puzzle game based around time travel. In it, the the player guides the protagonist through a series of mazes in a haunted-type mansion in order to escape, by using time travel.
Game Visual Inspiration
My client requested a theme of the game be “old-timey” 1800’s Victorian, which would drive the style of the game assets. He provided examples of ideas and the look and feel to be used in the game, such as of the fantasy story The Clock that Went Backward and H.G. Wells’ book The Time Machine.
Character Design and Art
Character Visual Inspiration
- “Old-timey” Victorian look and feel
- Portable time machine, like a pocket watch
- Lantern for use inside the pitch-black mansion
Character Design Drafts
Idea sketches
Lineart with chosen outfit design
- Certain elements enlarged to be able to be seen in-game, as the character sprite will be relatively small on the screen
Color Combinations
Final Character Design
In-game Animations
Character Sprite Walking Animation
Time Travel Animation Sprite
- The in-game sprite of this image spins clockwise when he uses the time machine to travel back in time
Alternate Time Travel Animation
- A full-screen animation of the character’s time machine working its magic
Character Sprite Losing Animation
- When the player runs out of move options, such as when encounters his past self while time traveling or bumps into a locked gate, a paradox happens and the level is lost.
In-game Elements
- The levels’ maps and elements are in a bird’s eye view.
Wall Sprite Sheet – Stone Pattern
Floor Pattern Options – Wooden Planks
Buttons
- Opens gates when pressed
Staircase
- The downward staircase in each level is the target destination in the maze to win the level, getting closer to escaping the mansion.
- Inspiration: ladders from Generation One Pokemon Game Boy games and architecture of spiral staircases
App Screens
Main Menu Screen
- The player sees this screen upon starting the game. It will have buttons to start the level, reset the game, etc.
- Inspiration: Haunted mansion sceneries
Main Menu Sketches
Mansion ideas
Scene concept
Final Main Menu Iteration
- Black and white with grainy, sketchy style drawing to reflect a “haunting” look and feel of the game
Splash Screen
- Shown when the game is loading
- Shows the character and his past selves which were spawned from time traveling
Level Won Screen
- The player character successfully found his way down the staircase in the level, being one floor closer to escaping the mansion
Game Won Screen
- The player character is outside the mansion after winning the game
In-game Screenshot
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