Genre: Match 3 F2P Monster Collecting Mayhem
Platform:Windows 8
Role: Lead Designer & Concept Artist

• Developed a system for creating hundreds of modular monsters
• Created and prototyped a new type of Swipe to Match Combo System
• Led the team to understand the dynamics and tuning of F2P title

The Beginning

This game was a big moment for us, we were going to be part of the launch of Windows 8.  We knew that Microsoft was putting a lot of energy into high quality games, but they wanted games that were free.  Switching gears and constructing the game as a fully Free to Play title created a lot of interesting new design challenges for our team.  We were all used to AAA levels of game development for consoles, and now we needed to create something that needed to make money through advertisements and micro-transactions on a platform that didn’t even exist yet.  

Building the Idea

We turned to the world of iOS and examined what was working in the space.  Bejeweled Blitz was currently at the top of the charts, and it seemed like a good reference point for a game about matching.

Can we make a matching game with a pokemon collection mechanic?

We already had our swipe to match mechanic, but we needed something to drive replays, and thats when we settled on evolving monsters.  Monster evolution was not something new, but we had never seen it tied into a puzzle game.  We tried to cross breed the fun of a Pokemon style “gotta catch em all” with the fast 1 min rounds of Blitz.