Kaleida
alt.ctrl.GDC 2020 Showcase
Beauty in symmetry.
An arcade-style defender game where players rotate an ever-changing geometric environment to obliterate their enemies. Utilizing the unique Kaleida controller, take control of the fate of kaleidoscopic space.
Trailer
A short trailer-style video to get a better understanding of the gameplay and how the unique design of the Kaleida controller affects the play experience.
Process
Ideation
We ideated and conceptualized possible engaging ideas that we could showcase at events. We focused our design considerations around three pillars: the game should look interesting, be learnable from watching and be exciting and fun in short play sessions.
Prototyping
We created multiple prototypes with basic materials in order to find out if the fun we theorized was captured in their physical form. This is the stage of development where we learned the most about what aspects of physical interaction felt the most engaging to us and our limits in hardware development.
Early Development
After rapidly prototyping multiple controller concepts in a design jam session, we came up with this interesting looking controller above. It fit our criteria of being visually interesting and its controls were minimal and simple, making it easy to learn and pick up.
Production
Digital Concept
After we found a controller that we felt was engaging and intriguing, we leaned into its visual affordances of something alien and we decided to create an arcade-style defender game. Where players use the side buttons to rotate the geometric play space.
Iteration
After we decided on the simple concept of a defender game, we wanted to make it more unique by giving players control over the environment rather than the character in the center. This added a level of complexity that complimented the physicality of the controller well and made the game a bit more challenging through the interface of the controller.
Polish
Now that we had our digital design solidified, we moved to polish the experience to fit into a showcase environment. We made sure that the player couldn’t die, as it would cut their short play-time even shorter. Instead, we counted the score based on a combo system where the player’s score would increase based on time not being hit by enemies.
More Information
While conceptualizing and developing ideas for Kaleida, we wanted to stay true to our pillars. Our pillars included being entertaining to spectate (both gameplay and playing with the controller), being able to quickly learn from watching gameplay, and being visually intriguing to spectators. We kept our art style monochromatic to keep the visuals focused on the gameplay and to match our controller’s appearance, and to make the game look inviting to spectators.
You can read more about our design process in the Game Developer article linked below.