Mushroom Kid's Big Grass Sword

November 2022 - Recently Started Full Production!

Project Lead and Lead Game Designer

Current 2024 Demo

Original 2022 Game Jam Submission

Developer Info

Role: Project Lead and Lead Game Designer

Tools Used: Godot, GitHub, Unity for Game Jam, Dialogic 2, Phantom Camera

Current Team Size: 7 Team Members

Demo Development Team Size: 9 Members

Game Jam Team Size: 5 Team Members

Game Jam: Prototype made for the Game/Music Jam 2022

Grants/Programs: Part of RIT’s Magic Spell Studios Magic Marker Program

Awards: RPI Gamefest Grand Prize Award, RIT’s EDGE Showcase Aesthetics Award, GDOC EXPO 2024 Selection

Duration: 1 Year and still going strong!

Game Info

Genre: Precision Platformer

Platform: Itch.io, Steam

Project Status: Demo Released on December 2024 and still in Production for a Full Release

Game Description: Mushroom Kid’s Big Grass Sword is a narrative, physics-based, precision platformer that follows Mica, a little mushroom, on a journey to rescue their village after the residents are captured by a gigantic bird. Meet Grandmashroom as she leads Mica to a mysterious temple to claim the Blade of Grass: a powerful weapon with the ability to pull Mica up ledges and over dangerous obstacles.

Contributions

Helped Secured over $26,000 Dollars in combined funding for the game from Grants, Awards, and Public Funding.
Researched & wrote extensively in an 80+ page game design document to map out our game’s mechanics, levels, narrative, and development timeline.
Managed our team’s production in a Trello Board and Gantt Chart from Game Jam Prototype to Award Winning Steam Demo and now currently working on a full release.
Implemented an assortment of features from the UI Menus, Dialogue System, Phantom Camera Implementation, Cutscene Managment Triggers & Managment, and Audio Implementation.
Designed the Mushroom Village and Temple Level from Sketch to Greybox, to Finalization.
Managed and marketed a successful Kickstarter campaign for the game that raised over $15,000 dollars.
Designed Pitch Decks and presented them in front of prominent publishers. Almost led to a publishing deal and contract but it fell through. (so close :3)
Created a Limited Liability Company
Configured the game’s Steam Page, writing descriptions, adding tags, and researching the best way to organize information.
Created the game’s trailers.

What I Learned

How to organize a Game Design Document in an effective way that details concepts in a deep and extensive manner but also formatted in a way that makes it accessible and clear for team members to read and reference for production.
Learned conflict resolution and how to manage creative differences through active communication and documented decision analysis
Learned the ins and outs of pitching to various different types of audiences from team members, panelist, playtesters, industry veterans, and publishers.
Launching and Managing Kickstarter is a very important and very stressful job that involves a ton of planning, research, and outreach in order to ensure that it succeeds.

Check out the Game Design Document!!!

No Game Design & Feature Highlights Here Because...

Usually, I like to highlight the key game design decisions and game features in this section.

However, I’ve worked on this project for so long that it would just be better for if you just read a copy of the game design document here. It deep dives into every core aspect of the game and shows exactly what my team was using for the game’s production. Feel free to also check out our team’s Gantt Chart that we used when working on a Steam Demo Launch.