During studies at university I was a designer for a part-time project intended as a birthday gift to a team members niece. The idea was to create a platformer based on one core mechanic that could be used in multiple ways, while at the same time rely on cooperation.

The game consists of four levels. The first three are different from one another and still using the rope as the core principle. The last levels combines aspects of all three levels into one.

The first levels focus on using the rope as a means to throw objects like a sling shot, where both players use coordinated movement to solve the level.

The swinging mechanic is introduced with the mushroom level, where the players need communication for when to time the release of the swing.

Game Design

Since the game was intended for a younger audience, I did not want the game to be rather difficult and have a stronger emphasis on having fun. The rope mechanic was the solution that would provide a challenge and fun. Together with a required communication, this fun would be also shared between players.

I told the team early on that we needed a mechanic that was fun to play around with, something like a rope. I spent a lot of time adjusting the different variables on the rope in order to make it feel fun. Throwing up an acorn is supposed to be fun to do in itself, to watch it fly high.

It was a short and sweet game that recieved praise from the birthday child. I had never done a game that was going to be played by a child, therefore it was difficult to determine what was difficult and easy. However I believe that I managed to create something that was fun and challenging at the same time.