Grapple Shot
Grapple Shot is a game-jam inspired project and my first official game release on itch.io. To add an extra challenge during development, I limited development time to just seven days of work. Unlike my first game, Protect Planet, I aimed to work on more responsibilities that come with the game development process such as playtesting and feedback from its release to improve future projects. I used an online generator to randomly select the theme, “One Weapon, Many Purposes”. This game was developed using Unity 2D and provided me many valuable insights into how game engines operate, Unity’s high-level constructs, and the challenge of time management with additional constraints. I was responsible for designing, programming, and iterating all gameplay systems, creating all assets and animations, sourcing fitting audio, and working on received feedback to improve the quality of the final game. This project marked several firsts for me, and my friends and family enjoyed playing and competing for the best times on each stage.
In Grapple Shot, the player controls a gun featuring two core mechanics: grappling and shooting. Left clicking the mouse will pin a point in space to allow the player to swing from it, whilst right clicking simply fires a bullet in the direction of the mouse cursor. Players gain momentum by swinging through the stages to reach the goal, however the goal is locked behind helicopter enemies that must be eliminated using the shooting mechanic. An early playtest concluded that the game lacked fun and intuitiveness. Players struggled to understand the controls and felt there was no sense of urgency or danger within the stages. To resolve these issues, I implemented a speed-run style timer to encourage competitive play and added moving saws to add an additional movement challenge. I also implemented some quality of life features, such as a tutorial stage, a level select menu with respective icons, and particle effects for grappling and helicopter explosions. The initial release of this project went well, with my friends and family enjoying the game and becoming competitive over their best times (level 4 in particular was a hotspot for this).
