SKILLS: Executive Leadership, Team Management, Production, UX Design, Illustration, Art Direction, Graphic Design, Storytelling, Game Design
Marbletron is a free-to-play infinite marble runner for mobile iOS and Android devices. In this simple and very addictive game the player controls a marble and runs it down procedurally generated platforms, through different areas and zones, all with their specific traction and challenges!
While the development of my studio’s other game Covenant: Project Zero was in full swing, as we had some open resources I devised a little intern-level game as a thesis project for one of our interns. I imagined a simple marble run game, laid out the basic concept, described the physics and usual details in our game document, and then had our young team members lead the way supported by our more experienced developers.
Other than coming up with the game design, I took on the User Experience design part of the game, and worked with my company’s team on concepting the in-game physics and refining the gameplay.
This included designing the main menu but also the stores, both for different marbles (each one with different physics), but also for coins so you can purchase them if you don’t want to go at it the usual way, playing the game and collecting coins.
The futuristic look of the game informed the game title, and I thought of several different zones that would have different physics. This coupled with the idea of Marbletron being an infinite marble runner, meant that it will be an ultimate-high score game. So, in order to have a more difficult time and not-so-easy learning curve, we came up with different pickups that can, for the most part, make your life even harder with only a few of them actually doing something nice to you.
Last but not least we also made our high-score table global, which was importang as it allows everyone everywhere in the world to compete in our game for the top score.
Overall although initially an intern-project, Marbletron is a fun and entertaining game, with a slick and easy to use control system, good polish and good engagement. It was a great exercise in both UX building and project and team management, along with taking an ownership of a product.