Prism’s Core Mechanic Design

Developing Prism’s core mechanic to serve as the foundation for Prism’s gameplay and level design.

Role: Game Designer

Timeline: 8 weeks

Tools: UE5

  • Prism had been in the planning phase of development focusing on ideating the game’s design pillars and narrative. Though aspects of the plot have been established, Prism’s core mechanic and gameplay loop had yet to be defined. This prototype developed over 3 sprints aimed to develop a solid core gameplay loop, the crucial foundation for shaping Prism’s plot and level design ahead of pre-production.

    • Identify and iterate potential gameplay features

    • Validate mechanics through play test feedback

    • Design a core mechanic and game loop

  • A ‘Magnetic Throw’ mechanic with similarities to other popular mechanics such as Krato’s Axe and Captain America’s shield but with its own unique identity inspired by magnetism.

Game Development Process

My process for designing and iterating over Prism’s core mechanic.

Page section links:

Contextual Review

Contextual Research

Super Mario 64’s development

Inspired by Mario’s jump mechanic development, this project focused on exploring magnetism’s affordances in different situations to refine and add depth to a core mechanic. Mario’s jump is the pinnacle of iterating over a mechanic till its design not only is enjoyable in various contexts but also reveals new abilities the more a player experiments with it. A literature review on Super Mario 64's development and rapid prototyping was done to imbue the prototyping process with a similar approach.

The Research conducted to inform my development process and potential features

Key takeaways:

  • The secret behind the Mario game feel is spending a lot of time fine-tuning mechanics

  • Shigeru Miyamoto spent the vast majority of his time moving Mario around in an empty space jumping, picking up and dropping items

  • Nintendo focuses on solidifying the fundamentals of their games then expand from their core concepts for as long as time allows

Magnetic & telekenetic powers

Video games, TV shows and films were reviewed by noting what abilities were used and what impact they had within a given context. The goal was to find what comonalities between magnetic and telekenetic powers makes them so compelling and what unique elements sets them apart from each other. Whether it was grabbing and hurling objects in the environment, taking and using enemies weapons or propelling enemies themselves, each of these abilities allowed characters to use the environment to their advantage.

👩🏾‍🏫 View my Final Pitch Presentation for this project.

📜 Review my full research summary in my Pitch Review & Supporting Document.

Key takeaways:

  • Have players make use of their environment

  • Let players use magnetism in various ways

  • Use interactable objects to provide diegetic information

Next Steps in Process

Extend mechanic into gameplay loops

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

Develop a combat gameplay demo

Demo Prism’s gameplay in a battle arena level to showcase her abilities and platforming.