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SwapBox

SwapBox is a first-person block puzzler, where the player has the ability to swap positions with any boxes they can see.

 

This core mechanic has many uses, which are explored through puzzle design. Throughout the game, new mechanics are added throughout the game, changing the way players think about 3D space.

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I conceived, designed, and programmed the initial prototype over the course of one day for a game jam. I am now leading a three-person team to give it the art and narrative it deserves. We are all working on the game in our free time on top of our course work.

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SwapBox was selected to be shown at ImagineNative's iNdigital Space in 2018.

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SwapBox was made in Unity.

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Swapping

The core mechanic was designed to serve two purposes at once: moving the player and moving boxes. This mechanic offers so much potential, just experimenting with it resulted in dozens of puzzles practically making themselves, with no need for additional mechanics to layer on top of it.

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When a player swaps with a box, they go where the box was, and this is the first thing that players understand, "I can teleport to wherever I see a box," but what I made sure to teach the players right away in the first level is that they can also move boxes by swapping with them, so they can be used as platforms. Later in the game, most puzzles require players to consider where they are placing boxes and themselves at the same time, and the mechanic becomes beautifully intricate.

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From a technical standpoint, the swap mechanic was very easy to implement, since it just involves the exchange of two objects' positions. It also makes movement of boxes much cleaner than in some 3D block puzzle games, because the player can only move the boxes by swapping, and not by picking them up. Thus, the boxes can't be manipulated as freely, and they end up being far easier to stack. It also gives me a bit more control when it comes to Level Design.

Swapping Properties

To expand on the simplistic core mechanic, I decided to make it so boxes could have different properties, such as being electric, or flammable. I initially thought I would have them operate like in existing box puzzle games, allowing you to just move them to where they would be useful. But then I came up with the antigravity boxes.

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Antigravity boxes have their own personal gravity direction, not downwards, but either upwards or in any of the cardinal directions. I thought, "Wouldn't it be fun if you could inherit the gravity of a box you swapped with?" I tried this, and it was incredibly fun walking around on the walls and swapping which direction was down. This had to stay.

 

This meant exchanging not only position, but also properties with boxes, so I decided to apply this same logic to my other mechanics. Swapping with a battery box gives the player the property to power objects. So the puzzle changes from, "How can I get the box there?" to "How can I get myself there, and then get a box to take my place (and properties)?"

 

This completely turned around the way players have to think about solving puzzles, because moving boxes is no longer the same as moving their properties. Players are thinking completely differently, and that's exactly what I want for a puzzle game.

More Mechanics

On top of the different properties of boxes (and the player), I also designed a number of puzzle mechanics for other objects, and the environment. These compliment the boxes, and give the player new situations to deal with.

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These mechanics range from buttons, to box cannons, to plants that grow to form walls. And whereas the boxes of all types are present everywhere throughout the game, these mechanics will be rarer, and more specific to certain rooms, which ties into the game's level design.

Non-Linear World Design

The initial prototype of SwapBox was entirely linear, and that worked well enough, but I wanted to try something new, something more organic. I brainstormed with my team, and we came up with something truly exciting.

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The game world is split up into linear and non-linear segments, the linear parts acting as covert tutorials, introducing and teaching new mechanics. Once players have a grasp of the mechanics, they are set loose in a dungeon of branching paths and puzzle rooms.

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Each room has a distinct theme, and a unique kind of puzzle. Solving the puzzle will allow the player to traverse through the room, or activate something that affects other rooms, acting like a key. Some rooms can change shape, which will move other rooms around, and others can turn electrical devices off or on. The main thing is, all the rooms are related, and it takes an understanding of how they relate to solve the dungeon.

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Once the player finishes a non-linear dungeon, they are sent through another linear section where another mechanic is thrown into the mix. Then, they return to the dungeon again -- but it has shifted and rearranged. Some rooms will be completely new, and others will be the same as last time, but the nature of their puzzles will change to incorporate the new mechanic.

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This design of shifting and rearranging the old while constantly adding the new will hopefully result in players thinking critically about how they can use new mechanics in the context of old rooms, and how they can use the functions of all the rooms to make their way to the end. This ambitious design is still in progress, but I am excited for the potential it holds.

Non-Linear World Design

When designing levels, I like to think out a simple puzzle that can be achieved with a combination of mechanics, and I sketch that out in a way that I can understand it. Here is a gallery of a bunch of my level design concept sketches and parti diagrams.

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