Internship duration: Jan - Mar, 2021 3 mos
In this internship project, I worked in a game development team (including UIUX designer, 3D artists, developers, music composer and sound effects designer, game designers, video editor), and launched the game - Playground Farm. (Simulation game)
In this game players will plant their crops on their private island and catch seashells on the beach while avoiding crabs attack.
4 weeks / Group project
- Built game strategy, core loop and created UX interaction flows.
- Designed on boarding, always on screen and functional UI elements.
Tools
Figma / illustrator / Reworld engine / Blender
- Defined the game’s UI style guide which supports the overall game design.
- Created 2D, 3D elements including trees, furniture, currencies and plants.
Time Line
My role
Playground Farm - This game's target user will be kids who are around 4years - 13 years old. We should also concern the responsible design for both web and mobile app versions.
All UI designs
Welcome screen
Main screen
Before launch, this game is named Island Harvest. We created the design which lets kids understand this is a harvest game.
Mini-game
Inside this main-island, users can join a mini-game called Seashell when they get to go to a white tent.
Always on screen elements
Currencies are kind of awards that users can get through farms. When players plant crops from different seeds, then they will get currencies.
Always on screen point board
Three types of currencies
Store UI
Design iterations
First version
Before iteration I designed this store flow, players can buy the plants or furnitures to build their farm or house.
After the first round play testing, I found that players take much time to go through this section, and some players were complaining that this flow took time to them.
Iterations
Think about the target players being kids, and I should design a quick and more intuitive way to help them to join the interaction.
Final flow of the store section
Finally, I found drag and drop directly from the screen is the most simple and intuitive way for kids.
Player Profile
Other UI elements
Logo of this game
Logo of this game
I harvested a lot of things from this internship, thanks to my teammates and mentors, Toni and Jay.
-
Game UX is different to website and app UX. In game UX, I should design brief and clear interaction since players like to go back to play rather than staying in a statistical operation interface.
-
Competitive research is very important. Learning flows from other featured popular games. Most of These games already have solid flows which may be iterated many times. This will help me avoid design bugs.
-
Understand the big picture from the very beginning. Knowing the whole game context, story and design aspect can avoid duplicated working and less iterations.
-
Cross functional aspect. Always think about engineer costs. Some complicated designs may look fun but will cost more engineers’ manpower. Don’t forget the coding load.