How do you write a world where squirrels are ninjas?
That was the task for Legend of Shadowtail.
I joined this project during the testing phase.
I've played Solitaire before.
This game... was different.
It was Solitaire, with some unexpected customizations. -Customizations that help a casual player (like me) relax and all-but-guarantee that the game will not end in a deadlock. -But customizations that were not (at the time) intuitive.
Some of my tester feedback was implemented into the game, showing the players more of the 'special' moves they had at their disposal.
I also drew a small icon that denoted how many of one such special move the player had left.
(And no one had written any music, so I wrote the music that plays during the game.)
This is a fun game once you learn how to play it - but I joined the project during the playtesting phase, and was unable to understand how the rules worked.
After playing and playing the game, I compiled a list of starter tips for new players, to try and ease their onboarding experience into the game.
(And I got to help during a multi-contributor swap around of trying to make the playing pieces 'read' more clearly to the player, which was a lot of fun.)
When I joined this game there was an outline for what needed to happen in the story. I turned that outline into a monologue that the main character could deliver, and drew a simple vector art scene that could act as the visual for the 'cut scene.'
Eventually I did crack open Unity and actually impact the files by reshaping a piece of abandoned content, and turning it into a final bonus level that wrapped up the story nicely.
