9 Lives is a mini 2D platformer created over an intense 3-day sprint, as part of a 4-week course at HKU, Utrecht focused on game feel.
The project was a culmination of 2.5 weeks spent learning Unity from scratch, studying the structure of games like Super Mario, and understanding level design, pacing, and what makes gameplay feel satisfying and responsive.
The goal of 9 Lives was to apply that knowledge in practice — to explore how camera systems, character movement, animation, audio, and environment design come together to create a cohesive, enjoyable experience. While the game is a prototype, it served as a deep-dive into the fundamentals of responsive gameplay design and the creative process behind building a game from the ground up.
PREMISE
Insights
Creating a game from scratch in just three days wasn’t the healthiest decision — but it led to 9 Lives. This project focused on understanding and applying game feel — the elements that make gameplay smooth, responsive, and satisfying. Below are some of the learnings:
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Camera Movement: Implemented using Cinemachine Brain, a custom camera controller, and parallax effects to enhance depth.
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Character Movement: Developed jump animations, dust effects, raycasting for ground detection, and an "IsGrounded" check for smoother interactions.
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Game Art: Created sprite sheets, layered assets, prefabs, and general animations.
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Level Design: Designed level layouts with thoughtful difficulty progression and engaging platforming elements (e.g., "jump islands").
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Audio: Integrated audio using Unity’s audio listener.
Notes about Ver.1 and Ver.2
Before making this game, I spent 2.5 weeks learning Unity from scratch by creating my first game — a small project about rescuing people during a flood. That experience helped me understand the basics of Unity and sparked a deeper interest in how games are structured and designed.
Ver.2 was my first attempt at building a complete level. It had several technical and design shortcomings:
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The camera was parented directly to the player, resulting in jarring and overly zoomed-in movement, lacking parallax.
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Player animations were limited to idle/run, with no squash-and-stretch or particle effects, leading to underwhelming gameplay feedback.
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Collision issues due to an oversized box collider and lack of ground checks often caused the player to behave unpredictably.
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Key mechanics were missing or incomplete — for instance, vine obstacles were meant to slow the player but weren’t functional.
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Visual assets were inconsistent, with pixel sizes that clashed and diminished the overall presentation.
Notes about Current Version
9 Lives has come a long way, but it still needs fine-tuning:
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Missing UI (start, pause, end menus)
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Platform distances need balancing for smoother jumps
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Hazard cues (e.g., glowing blue plants) need better visual feedback
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Parallax script needs fixing (it moves in the wrong direction and plays during jumps)
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Jump animation doesn’t reset correctly
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Missing heart counter for collectibles