Majority Gives

A 3D Twitch Integrated Co-op Shoot em’ Up made for Yogscast Game Jam 2019

Take Aways

I went into this project not knowing my partner at all, being able to work with a stranger allowed me to open my mind to more possibilities. I had also worked with him over a 5-hour time zone difference, which proved to be a challenge that was easily overcome.

Being able to use pre-built assets made it easier to iterate faster when creating levels.

Majority Gives was the game I submitted for the Yogscast Game Jam 2019, a game jam started in addition to the other charity work the Yogscast were doing during December.

For this Game Jam my roles were the Level Designer, UI Designer, and Sound Designer. My role put me in a place where I didn’t need to touch any code, so I was able to focus fully on the level design and aesthetics of the game.

Majority Gives was made in Unity and gone on to win 2nd place in this virtually game jam.

Initial Ideas

To begin this Game Jam we wanted to make a game that utilized twitch functionality. My partner for the Jam had come across how to utilize Twitch for games, and due to the nature of the Yogscast, we thought it would the perfect opportunity to make a twitch integrated game. Through I came up with a few initial ideas…

• Beat-Em-Up Based Tower Defense

• Video Creation Game

• Mass Minigame Concept

All of those ideas shared a similar concept of Twitch chat actively harming or aiding the players. Eventually we settled on a converted version of the Beat-Em-Up.

Paper Prototype Levels

I was able to create many paper-prototype levels, as my partner had fully rendered assets that we would have been able to use. Which left visual style, prop placement and general Level-layout up to me.

For each level we needed to have open area for the gifts and hazards to be distributed to the Player(s), and enough obstacles so that Player(s), couldn’t easily receive those gifts.

Consistent Visual Appeal

With those early designs, I was able to more efficiently build the level, this way I could focus more on the visual aspect of the level and concentrate on the “Ice” theme.