Raphaël Martin-Rodrigues
Game Designer
THE ARCADE
MY GOALS
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Design and implement an AI Wave System
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Develop all player mechanics
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Create a progression-focused Shop System
MECHANICS
Fireball
The fireball is an attack that have 50% of luck to lauch. This attack is related to the Power Hit so when you pressed the key to lauch it, you have 50% to get the FireBall or the Power Hit. The Fireball will have more % to get it if you upgrade this abilities in the shop!
Power Hit
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Power Hit is an attack that can kill more than one ennemis at the same time! You can upgrade is damage at the shop.
Small Hit
Small hit is an attack that do less damage to ennemis every time the wave get higher in difficulty. But the attack speed of this attack is faster than the others! this attack can be upgrade at the shop in the same section of the Power Hit.
Simple Dash
A simple dash that you can do 3 times in a row to go more faster and dodge enemy attack with after a reloading charge that take 3.5 seconds to reload one
Blink Dash
A Dash that do the same thing that the simple dash do but you need to have it to finish the game because it can go truth walls!
The Shop
I designed the Shop system to let players upgrade attacks and dash abilities, while introducing bugs that spawn after purchases balancing empowerment with new challenges.
BUGS CREATION
Little Pixel spawn
I designed the Upgrade Bug, which spawns when the player buys their first upgrade, creating a persistent zone around the screen to scale difficulty with progression.
Screen Cracks and Meteor
late-game escalation where two large bugs and random meteor hazards restrict player space, creating layered difficulty that demands adaptability and focus.
Player Upside Down
the Disturbance Bugs, which spawn after upgrades to visually disrupt the player with slow-motion effects adding tension without changing core gameplay.
Screen Error Detected
the Corruption Bug spawn once as a visual cue, signaling to the player that the machine is corrupted and reinforcing the game’s atmosphere.
ENEMY
Beast
Heavy Hitter enemy with stronger health scaling (1–3 hits depending on wave) and hand-based attacks, adding progressive difficulty without overwhelming the player.
Skeleton
the Knife Wielder enemy, the only weapon-based foe, dealing the highest damage to players. It scales from one hit to two across waves, making it a consistent high-priority threat.
Skull
a fragile, one-hit foe with homing fireballs that track the player for four seconds, adding ranged pressure to waves.
SPACE INVADER
Space Invader
To expand the progression loop, I created the Space Invader feature, where players can pause waves to earn extra tickets (currency) used to unlock upgrades and abilities more quickly.
Bugs collectibles
To guide players through encounters, I created a collectible system that pauses waves until all items are gathered, supported by a temporary guiding arrow.
DESIGN CHALLENGES
Gameplay loop
The Gameplay loop is the most difficult thing you do when you make a survival game. Because you need to make the player feel like he advance in the game but not make him repeat every time the same thing. I manage to create a lot of abilities, mechanics, wave difficulties and more! To make the player feel better when he plays and not feeling the game repetitive.
Enemy and Mechanics
I wanted to create enemys that feel like a survival game. It push my knowledge further espacially with the wave system with the AI and the mechanics that I create. It was my first time with a survival game whether it's created or played. I've search a lot on the internet to know more about this type of game and to know how I will do it.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Conclusion
By creating this game, it help me to know way more about new type of game and how you Design it. At the end this game made me increase my Game Design and my Programmation knowledge that made me now more better than I was before and making me more fluid when I Design a game.
