Introduction
Made during Game's Maker Toolkit 2022 Game Jam, Gambler's Order turns over the jam's theme "roll of the dice" by asking the question: "What if dice brought order rather than chaos?"
Chaos magic has engulfed the world. You, the gambler, have tricked dice before. You decide to do it again but this time to restore the order. Use different dice (from 1 to 6) to restore platforms back to their right position and make way through the ensuing chaos!
Gameplay
Design Process
Along with a fellow first-year Interactive Media student (Quinn McMahon), we designed and developed the game in 48 hours. We both collaborated on the design process of the project and then branched off, with me taking care of the technical side and him drawing all the textures and sprites. However, we both commented on and oversaw each other's work, filling the gaps in both areas.
Initial Ideas
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Figure 1: A puzzle game where the player could have to reach a specific point with the right side of a die with the least amount of moves possible;
Figure 2: A Pokemon-style game where you collect and battle with dice (e.g a low-risk die that can only roll 2, 3 or 4; a high-risk dice that can roll up to 20);
Figure 3: A game where the number you roll with a die determines various attributes (e.g. enemies' health, attack and defence values);
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Figure 4: A game where the dice's movement during a roll affects the player's movement;
Figure 5 - 6: A top-down dungeon crawler where you needed to defeat enemies and collect dice to slow down time and get through obstacles between one room and the other;
Final Idea
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The final idea came from subverting the audience's expectation of a die's effect. People often connect dice to possibilities, due to the unpredictable nature of their role. The question we asked ourselves is: "What if dice gave you control and order instead of fostering chaos?" (Figure 7)
From there, we started conceiving the idea of a game where the world is in total shambles and you, the protagonist, have to restore order by tricking dice with magic.
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Dice have different abilities, from 1 to 6 respectively: 1 - Rotate; 2 - Move; 3 - Destroy; 4 - Switch (Turns platforms on and off); 5 - Status (Make platforms bouncy); 6 - Time (Slows down time on platforms that rotate too fast)
We sketched tutorials for them, which we couldn't build inside the game due to time constraints.
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To evaluate the concept, we sketched different sections that combined the various dice abilities. What we realised is the potential of combining the different abilities, as it created an engaging game loop and flow.
Level Design
The level starts with the victory flag already in the player's view. However, the user can not reach the flag with their jump. For this reason, they will have to move the first platform (with a "two" die) to reach the next section of the level. Due to the spell range, the flag platform will also move upwards. We wanted to create both a sense of frustration and anticipation for the player, as they would have to find another way to reach the level's end.
After that, the player will have to use a time die(number six) and a switch die(number four). Having reached the platform on the top-right corner of figure 25, the user will have to go in quick succession between two time platforms, 3 rotate ones (die number 1), a 'destroy' platform (die number 4) and four switch platforms. If they are not quick enough, the player will either fall into one of the platforms below or, if they get in contact with chaos magic (the red rectangles), they will respawn at the beginning of the level.
After this section, the player will use a bounce die (die number 5) to get on a platform attached to the wall on its left. To get out of the pit they are in, they will have to fall from the first platform and exploit the momentum to reach the top of the wall.
In-Engine Level Prototype (Figure 25)