Small games, and what I changed after watching people play them.

48-Hour Game Jam · UI & Systems · Unity · Team of 4

What we made

A short night-time game where you walk a village and keep the street lanterns lit before your own oil runs out. Each lantern you refill buys the village a little more time.

Where players got stuck

We watched six people play on the second day. Four of them ran out of oil without ever looking at the fuel bar in the top-left corner. They were watching the lanterns, not the HUD.

What I changed

I moved the fuel reading onto the player's own lantern as a thin ring that shrinks, and added a flicker and a soft sputter sound at 25%. In the last round of testing, nobody ran dry by surprise.

Game Design II (class project) · UX & Level Design · Godot · Team of 3

What we made

A small puzzle game about stocking grocery shelves. Boxes come in odd shapes and you have to fit them before the store opens.

Where players got stuck

Most classmates didn't realize boxes could rotate. Our tutorial explained it in a text panel that almost everyone clicked past, so people got stuck on level three and assumed it was impossible.

What I changed

We dropped the text tutorial and made level one impossible to finish without rotating a box. I also added a faint outline preview of where the box would land, which cut down on misplaced drops.

48-Hour Game Jam · UI & Feedback · Unity · Team of 2

What we made

A tide-pool exploration game. You have a few minutes between tides to collect shells and get back to the beach.

Where players got stuck

Players couldn't tell which rocks were safe once the water started coming back, and the tide timer was easy to lose track of while exploring.

What I changed

Unsafe rocks got a darker color and a different shape, so it didn't rely on color alone. I replaced the on-screen timer with a wave sound that gets closer as the tide turns.