Puzzlepops! Plus
A brain-bending game of logic that mixes a traditional sliding puzzle with the art of candy making.
Project Overview
“Cute lollipops. Serious puzzles. The most difficult game about candy you'll play. Puzzlepops! Plus includes both the original Puzzlepops! and Puzzlepops! Trick or Treat for well over 200 deliciously challenging puzzles.
A brain-bending game of logic that mixes a traditional sliding puzzle with the art of candy making and beautiful minimalist visuals. Slide pieces of candy along lollipop sticks and combine them to complete each Pop! Plan your moves carefully and use tricky contraptions to freeze, melt, squash and swap candy.”
Puzzlepops! Plus is a remaster of my first two solo developed titles that combine thematic puzzles with rich mechanics in hundreds of levels. Each 15-20 puzzles the game introduces new entities that change the gameplay and combine with previous mechanics in robust, interesting ways. Puzzlepops! was an honorable mention in both Design and Accessibility at the 2016 Australian Game Developer awards.
Role: Solo Designer & Developer
I created the game as the sole designer and developer in Unity. Delivered extensive cross-disciplinary work to ship both Puzzlepops! and Puzzlepops! Trick or Treat remastered on Steam as a single release.
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Responsibilities
Game Design
Shepherded the design vision from initial paper concept, through prototyping, refinement, and final successful release. Covered all areas of design with extensive work on gameplay, accessible control/input design, satisfying levels and a cozy player journey.
Development
Developed the game in Unity engine and visual scripting (PlayMaker). Covered gameplay, systems design and implementation, cloud services, saving, and control schemes (Keyboard & Mouse, Touch). Multiplatform development support for iOS/Android/Steam PC. Created all art (2D/FX) and SFX, with music sourced from a premium online library.
Production & Multiplatform Ship
Tight production management to ship the orinial Puzzlpops game in 5 months, and the halloween follow-up in just 4 weeks(!). Planned milestones, designed and actioned marketing beats, delivered the title across 2 platforms originally, with the remaster Puzzlepops! Plus now available on Steam. Apple front-page banner feature in multiple countries (Pre-GOTD).
