Game Blitz
Four indie games in one semester
“Yes And Studio” was formed in my last semester of college—a small and passionate team of 5 people. We created 4 games of various genres in Unity and published them on Itch.io.
My Roles:
UI/UX Designer
2D Artist
Team:
Brandan Chen
Junzhe Huang
Ken Zheng
Shelly Zhang
Timeline:
7 weeks,
Spring 2023
An isometric action RPG that retells a classic Chinese fable
“The Cowherd and the Weaver girl” is a classic Chinese tale about the doomed love story of a mortal and goddess. Forbidden from seeing each other, they were divided by the wide river of the Milky Way, and could only meet once a year, crossing a bridge formed by magpies that took pity upon them.
Timeline:
5 weeks
Tools:
Figma
Procreate
Unity
To Play:
Itch.io
The UI assets in game are inspired by traditional Chinese elements that are ornate, pattern-based, and symmetrical, which I had a lot of fun exploring.
In addition to designing UI for the game, I also created 2D character art for dialogue boxes and illustrations for the cut scene that plays at the start of the game.
I also helped design the UX flow. We wanted a linear progression that repeats each time the player dies, while still integrating slightly new elements that encourages replay, such as new dialogues from various characters.
A puzzle platformer inside a cat’s dream and nightmare
A 2D puzzle platformer, in which Nox the cat freely traverses between her dream and nightmare realms. She must solve the puzzles to return to her sleeping body.
Timeline:
4 weeks
Tools:
Figma
Procreate
Unity
To Play:
Itch.io
Nox is more of an art-driven game, where the UI recedes into the background and act as a supporting element with a flexible system. So I created all the in-game art assets first, then designed the UI to specifically fit the art.
Defend your planet with a basketball against an alien in a bizarre bullet hell
A bizarre bullet hell where only some basketball rules apply. The player fights against an alien with a basketball, and must shoot all the hoops in order to stop its attacks.
Timeline:
2 weeks
Tools:
Figma
Unity
To Play:
Itch.io
I designed a clean sci-fi look to fit the theme of the game, with a monochrome green palette to contrast the orange planet. I was inspired by the minimal yet extremely effective UI one of my favorite games “Nier: Automata.”
A completely normal farming game
A game made for the 2023 Global Game Jam. The theme was “roots,” and our take on it was a completely normal farming game for completely normal people.
Timeline:
48 hours
Tools:
Figma
Photoshop
Unity
To Play:
Itch.io
I had a lot of fun with the crumbled-up texture UI of this farming game, using diegetic elements to increase immersion and help players get into the mind space of our little murderer, I mean, farmer.
In addition to UI, I also created the environment art for the game as well as NPC designs. We wanted a fairytale art style to create both a light-hearted yet slightly disturbing mood.
Credits: “protagonist” and crops by Shelly Zheng.
