Prism Case Study

Making my first video game with a team of friends learning game development skills along the way.

Role: Game Designer

Timeline: 2 years

Tools: Figma, Unity, UE5

  • In this 3D Action RPG, players play as Prism, an android with newfound magnetic abilities, players embark on a journey to seek meaning beyond their isolated existence on a deserted research vessel.

    Gaining new friends and experiences along the way, they go on to unite the android planets to abolish their empirical rule created by a human-led war centuries ago

  • Develop and intertwine amusing magnetic mechanics and surreal level design with a heartfelt narrative to draw connections between Prism’s fantasy realm and our own reality.

    • Defined Prism’s concept and brainstormed world building

    • Prototyped concepts to brainstorm and validate ideas

    • Documented narrative, sound, character and level design concepts

    • Onboarded team to the project and initiated work with project tasks

    • Held weekly team meetings and collaborated with departments to further develop game design

Game design process

My process for brainstorming, documenting and developing our game.

Jump links to page section:

⬇ World building

⬇ Prototyping concepts

⬇ Documenting progress

⬇ Team collaboration

World building

After brain dumping narrative ideas, I started looking up game design structures to help frame these concepts and worked with a mentor to guide my process.

Select an image to enlarge it:

I developed initial ideas by:

  • Interviewing my parents since the 3 main characters in the first level are based on them and myself.

  • Starting to define Prism’s genre, design pillars, characters and plot with frameworks and narrative structures.

  • Gathering images of real and fantasy space ship floor plans to learn what rooms and facilities they typically include.

  • Researching the International Space Station to learn about astronauts’ objectives and lifestyles on research vessels.

Prototyping concepts

I began to prototype my ideas to validate them and better understand how to expand on them. Though it was intimidating at first, each iteration gave me new clues and inspiration as to what the game was becoming.

🎥 Visit my TikTok and YouTube channel for the extended version of these videos.

I learned that prototypes:

  • Add tangible context to obscure ideas to help them take shape.

  • Shed light on what mechanics are or aren’t enjoyable and worth further exploring.

  • Inspire new ideas through spontaneous playfulness.

As ideas grew, we started using Notion’s nested pages and databases to keep our work organized. Teammates suggested frameworks from their crafts and incorporating them helped us effectively communicate our perspectives to each other.

Regularly updating our documentation with on going work helps us stay accountable and reassures us little by little we’re making progress.

Documenting progress

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Team collaboration

I met my friends and now teammates at different points in life and learning game development. I absolutely love working with everyone and enjoy our thought provoking brainstorming sessions and experimental team projects.

Team responses to “What behaviors do you believe best exemplify our team's core values?”:

  • The ability to be open with each other.

  • Respect and clear communication.

  • Empathy, patience, teamwork and perseverance.

  • Passion, genuineness, and wonder.

  • Being inclusive, supportive and creating an atmosphere where it’s safe to ask questions.

Next Steps in Process

Mechanics gym experimentation

Play with Prism’s magnetic abilities to discover what affordances they intuitively provide players to design meaningful systems.

Understanding our players’ needs

Listen to the needs of female and non-binary Action RPG players to understand their viewpoints on what the genre is missing and what they seek in future releases.