Death Squared
Role
Level Designer
Engine
Unity
Genre
Puzzle
Platform
Steam
Year
2024 (for my levels)
Design Pillars
Cooperation,
Puzzle Solving,
Humour
During my time working as a Quality Assurance Tester at SMG Studio for Project Koala, I met with some of the studio's designers and expressed interest in their puzzle game Death Squared. I ended up designing multiple levels for the project.
I designed 25 original solutions and constantly iterated upon them to create levels that were not only remarkable puzzles but also dynamic co-op experiences. I documented over 100 iterations total, and then I got feedback from the lead designer about the game's vision, and iterated even more.
My ability to analyse mechanics and combine them in innovative ways allowed me to create interesting dynamic level concepts that the game's original team hadn't even considered.
This is the Core Game Loop of a Death Squared puzzle. Most movement-based puzzlers will have a similar loop involving observing, planning, moving, and then observing the new position. What sets Death Squared apart is the Cooperate Phase.
It wasn't until speaking with the game's Lead Designer that I realised a lot of my early designs lacked this crucial cooperation component.
I then revisited my levels and, as can be seen in the document linked here, redesigned them so that executing a plan/solution always required communication between players.