Level 1

Level 1 is about teaching the player the game's main objective and how to achieve it. It’s designed to be almost impossible to lose.

 When the player loads into the level, they will be met with a giant red laser across their screen. As they move their mouse around, they’ll see that the red laser also moves. This will teach the player how to aim. 

At the bottom of the screen is tutorial text, clearly communicating to the player what the objective of the game is. The enemies are arranged horizontally, making their first shot super easy.

Level 2

Level 2 reinforces Level 1 while teaching the player two new game mechanics. The player knows they have to kill the enemy, but a massive wall is in their way. The player might be tempted to try a bank shot, but they will quickly learn that furniture and statues will destroy their bullet, ending their attempt. 

At the bottom of the screen, more tutorial text tells the player they can move their character around on the green carpet. A change of the cursor sprite also adds clarity to where they can move and shoot. 

The enemy is also placed in a corner of the room, maximizing the player's chances of winning, even if they have poor aim.

Level 3 

Level 3 reinforces Level 2 because completing the level by moving the character is much easier. It’s still possible to beat Level 3 without moving, and this solution was kept in the game so players could feel clever if they discover it. 

The level layout was designed to depict a clear trajectory for the players to visualize. The second mechanic demonstrated to the player here is the quota. The more enemies the player kills, the better their score will be.

Level 4 

Level 4 introduces two new mechanics and a new puzzle element. The 1st is Bystander NPCs. The player will get a lower score if they kill the bystander, which is hinted at by the tutorial text. 

The 2nd mechanic is the movable camera. The player is positioned at the far left of the level. When they aim at the enemies on the right, the camera will slide in the direction they move their cursor. 

The new puzzle element introduced is timing, as the player must time their shot to avoid killing the bystander. This level’s layout is similar to Level 1 and can be completed with a horizontal shot. However, the player can also beat the level by performing a bank shot off this bottom right wall, acting as an extra solution to make the player feel clever.

Level 5 

Level 5 reinforces Level 4. The player must position the camera to get a clear view of the enemies and bystanders. To get the best score possible, the player must kill all enemies without killing the bystander. This requires tracking the NPCs' movements and timing their shot. 

Level 6 

Level 6 was intended to be the final level, meaning it had to be the most challenging. Its goal was to test every mechanic and puzzle element introduced previously. 

However, due to time constraints, my teammate had to create the layout and solution, so I can’t comment on their design process. I will include a brief design analysis of Level 6 based on my design goals and philosophies in my post-mortem below.

Budget Bounty was undoubtedly one of my best game jam games. I got to work with a talented team and create a neat little browser game. The design has some elements I’m proud of, and others I'm less proud of. 

One of the game’s strong points is it has a very effective tutorial. Levels 1-5 were each given a well-defined purpose, and designed around those goals. The layouts of levels 1-5 were designed to make the solution discoverable; the intended trajectory of the bullet was communicated through the walls & NPC placements. 

Levels 1-5 were also designed to be beatable by killing only 1 enemy. This was done to make the game as easy as possible and to let other jam participants experience the whole game much more quickly. 

The game was very well received. Everyone we gave the game to almost immediately understood how to play it. The game’s controls were intuitive, and most of the solutions were sufficiently obvious. 

One of the game’s weak points was over 60% of the game is tutorial; the only pure gameplay levels were 5 and 6, with 6 being our weakest level. 

The design of level 6 was weak because it had no goal/purpose to design around, so it was naturally tough to create a compelling layout and solution. Furthermore, the wall & NPC placements in Level 6 give the player no hints on how to get the best score, let alone complete the level. 

Overall, more levels would certainly make this game feel more complete, as would more content. During development, I designed other gameplay mechanics in the form of different bullet types. Bullets that would shrapnel after ricocheting, heatseek an NPC after a bounce, and bullets that could puncture through furniture were all planned to be in the game. 

Implementing these mechanics and designing levels around them was way beyond our scope. Designing polished levels around the default bullet was already challenging, so we ultimately discarded the different bullet types to reduce scope.