christopher Ellington
Game and Narrative Design
Bumpy Birds
Tapify, Inc.
Mobile Dodging Game
Overview
Bumpy Birds is a tapping/dodging game for mobile devices. It is the second game made by the All Are Kings team in Unity for Tapify, Inc.
Players tap the screen to "flap" and gain a little altitude. The bird falls back down if the player stops tapping. Using these simple controls, the player tries to move up as far as possible while dodging incoming "bully birds."
Every time a player passes a flag, a point is awarded. Players can even connect their facebook accounts to the game to see their friends' high scores.
Players are shown one full-page ad for every three play sessions. A set of additional bird skins can be purchased in the game store. Players can also share their score on Facebook or Twitter to unlock the "Baby Bird" skin for free.
Systems Design for Bumpy Birds
I set up the game's single, endless scene and tuned the three enemy spawners (three for a good spread of enemies). The game had to be simple and easy at first, but to ramp up enough to provide a challenge at greater altitudes. The golden butterfy, which provides a boost of altitude and invincibility, had to be rare, but not too rare. I also adjusted how the camera color changes at different altitudes, and when the moon and stars come out at the game's highest altitudes.
Bumpy Birds Credits:
Progamming, Design:
Adrian Comisel, Luis Carlos Rodriguez
Artist, Design:
Justin Nichols
Level Design, Particles, Design:
Christopher Ellington
User Interface, Design:
Remi Storms
SFX and Music:
Jared Wuerzburger