Figure it Sprout
Figure it Sprout is a grid based puzzle game created for the Critical Thinker Game Challenge, sponsored by Jennifer Ann's Group. It was showcased at Dreamhack Atlanta 2023 as a part of the Indie Showcase.
Figure it Sprout is a game I created and worked on in 2023 with a group of 3 others. My primary contribution was as the sole designer. I designed the 31 levels and 16 plant cards found in the game. I was also the producer for this game, handling team tasks, asset lists, and communications with the non-profit group.
In this game, players are given a set of plants (cards), which they need to plant onto a grid to achieve each level's point goal. Each plant interacts with other plants in different ways. For instance, Lemongrass is an Occupancy type plant and will gain 1 point for each other plant in its row. Alfalfa is a Fertilizing type plant and will multiply plants in the same column by 2. Because plants only trigger their effects once when they are planted, the challenge of the game is to find the right order and placement of each card in order to maximize points. Over the course of the 31 levels, players learn different combos and tricks to tackle the many tricks that are laid out before them.
Level designing was one of the challenges I was responsible for. Levels either needed to introduce a new mechanic, check the player's understanding of a mechanic, or have a twist that challenges an assumption the player might have.
In our level design document, I wrote about each level's purpose. One challenge was gauging the difficulty of each level or mechanic. I designed several levels using a random assortment of cards. Then, I playtested those levels with others to decide which order they should appear in the game and what game knowledge is necessary to complete the level.
Level Design
Snippets from our level design document, which was just a Google Slides. Slides was convenient for quickly putting together level layouts and rearranging level orders that I could access easily on multiple devices.
I assembled each of the 31 backgrounds used in the game, along with several other elements, including the Plant Guide book, the level UI, and the credits screen. I aimed to maintain a relaxed and cozy aesthetic throughout the game, and I believe the final result reflected this vision.
For the cards, I developed a series of symbols to represent each unique plant effect, making it clear at a glance what each plant does. When players use the Plant Guide, it gives a more detailed description of the effect, making it easy to check what each card does.
UI and Environment Design
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Early storyboard for level UI, versus newer version
Concepts for the plant effect icons and the Plant Guide pages
Older version of the credits scroll
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