Wounded Angel

Wounded Angel is a solo-developed casual mobile game made in the Godot game engine and released under the identity of Stray Meat, my own independent games label. Its gameplay loop takes cues from games such as Flappy Bird, Doodle Jump, and Jump King, while its visual identity is rooted in late 80s arcade/console games with a modern vector-based finish. I set out to make something that was quick and easy to jump in and out of, but also 

In Wounded Angel, the player must launch the titular angel from platform to platform in a vertically-oriented procedurally generated endless level, using touch-based slingshot controls.

Note: Visuals come from a pre-release build and may not fully represent the final game.

Tools Used

• Godot

• Affinity Designer

• Clip Studio Paint

Unique Locomotion System

Having a unique method of player control is a quick way to stand out in the gaming scene, instantly setting oneself apart from games with more standardized styles while also adding a fresh layer of challenge. In Wounded Angel, the player's movement is controlled like a slingshot, pulling back and releasing the character in a fixed arc.

It presents a similar challenge to golf, where the player locks in the power and angle of a jump and physics takes care of the rest. A small preview of the angel's arc is used to decrease guesswork, leaving the player to mentally fill in the blanks.

Escalating Difficulty

Even with a solid gameplay loop, it can be easy for a player to get bored either due to excessive repetition or lack of friction as their skills increase during playtime, an issue best remedied by increasing the difficulty as the player progresses further.

This is accomplished in Wounded Angel through two methods. First, the game begins automatically scrolling downward, increasing its speed every 10 points gained. This is to create urgency, progressively tightening the amount of time the player has to consider their next move before they fall offscreen. Otherwise, different types of platforms and hazards begin spawning past certain point thresholds, each introducing their own threats and complexities.

Environment

Gameplay takes place inside the cross-section of a sprawling, stylized Tower of Babel made to fit snugly onto a phone screen.  Colors of main gameplay elements are kept warm and analogous, albeit carefully chosen to keep contrast high. The tower itself has a dark, low contrast background while the platforms are brightly colored and higher contrast, with drop shadows to help further add depth. 

Affinity Designer, a piece of commercial vector art software, was used for all of the environment art. This was my first serious project using the program, and I was able to get a grasp rather quickly on its best practices.

Character Design

While a more standard blonde-haired white-robed angel design was initially being considered, it was ultimately decided to make something more unique. Going back to the retro video game inspiration, the final angel was made with a Kirby-esque "cute-yet-quirky" non-human approach. It's swaddled in bandages to communicate its injured state and give a sense of something to protect. The palette is kept limited with blue tones to help complement the warmer backgrounds.

In order to be able to more freely illustrate the design, I drew the character in Clip Studio Paint, taking care to ensure it felt visually consistent with the rest of the vector graphics by way of clean, fixed-weight lineart and bold, simplistic shading.