Quill

The highlight of this game is its level design and world design.

"A 2D Collect-athon and MetroidVania Hybrid!"

The game was made in Javascript in Pixelbox.js. It was made for a school project, but also as a hobby.

Inspirations and Premise

My idea for this game is that I wanted to make a 2D platformer MetroidVania, like Hollow Knight, mixed with a Collectathon like Banjo Kazooie.

However, I was also very interested in games like Bloodborne and Dark Souls at the time and really liked the idea of the player simply wandering into these unique locations. Therefore, areas would not be clearly signposted but would just be hidden around, usually with multiple entrances and exits.

However, since the game is so short - with only 5 areas: a starting area, a hub area, 2 areas which branch off that, and a final test area, each with only 4 worm coins - the player does not do much wandering.

I thought I may expand on this after the project was due, but I learnt a lot and wanted to make something new using my new found knowledge.

Gameplay Overview

Each new area has a new ability to unlock. These are unlocked using Worm Coins hidden around the level (because the player is a hedgehog with a bird on its back). Unlocking the ability takes the player to a tutorial room.

The player can unlock 3 abilities total:

• Super Jump: around each level are jump pads which can make the player fly infinitely upwards. This seems werid at first, but this was used to create shortcuts around the level to aid in exploration.

• Double Jump: the player can perform another jump in mid air. However, the second jump limits the player's movement speed, meaning it is more about careful repositioning, as I felt that normal double jumps were not very interesting.

• Roll: another game I had played recently was Yook Laylee and the Impossible Lair, and liked the game's roll move. I felt it was a good way to have the player be able to move quickly through levels and liked the idea that there was long coyote time at the end. So I put it in my game.

Overall, this game still holds up fairly well but lacks polish.