Fluffulis is a 3D casual puzzle game inspired by Sokoban. It's aim is to provide short relaxing puzzles to help destress from a long day. My goal was to create a simple puzzle mechanic that can be built upon to create interesting and diverse levels.
Role: Lead Programmer
Platform: Unity 3D
Work Time: 3 weeks
FEATURES
Grid-Based Generic Blocks
Grid Based Blocks formed the core of the game. They were designed to be generic so that they could be inherited from in the future, allowing for potentially a wide variety of blocks and puzzle mechanics.
All blocks share the characteristics of being pushable, and can fall. But, some blocks can be color coded and have unique functionality, like MergableBlocks which can merge together to form a set of blocks.
Falling and Merging Blocks
To make use of the potential of 3-dimensional puzzles, blocks have 'gravity' and can fall to different parts of a level.
Additionally, making use of falling and pushing mechanics, same-colored blocks can stick together, forming a "chunk" of blocks, like a Tetris block. Players may need to create the correct shape to progress.
Generic Triggers
Generic triggers can be used to initiate a number of different mechanics, adding layers to puzzle complexity.
Placing blocks on buttons can open doors, and some doors require mutliple buttons triggered simultaneously. Likewise, triggers can be used to move platforms, enabling access to different parts of a level.
Character Controller
A simple character controller, allowing the player to move and rotate the camera to view the puzzle at different angles.
A one unit jump was also designed, but scrapped for puzzle simplicity.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
While puzzles aren't particularly popular, they're fun to create. I wanted to work with a strong team and try to create a complete, albeit simple game. I focused solely on the gameplay, and I it turned out great!
My main takeaway is the importance of decoupling scripts and creating separation. Cross dependencies introduced several bugs, which caused a few headaches and limited some of gameplay's potential. I would definitely architect my code a lot better now.