It’s a fast-paced 2D pixel art platformer with a unique twist you must grow your way out to survive.
In this vertical-scrolling indie game, your goal is simple but intense: feed the carnivorous escape plant at the center of the stage so it grows high enough for you to climb to safety. Fail to feed it in time, and the plant will take matters into its own hand by devouring you.
This was my first commercial mobile release as an indie developer, created over six months in collaboration with a talented pixel artist and sound designer (both credited in-game). It featured ads and microtransactions that helped fund development and gave me invaluable hands-on experience in mobile game production. In the game are present several character skins purchasable with gems, the premium currency of the game. Gems can be obtained as a reward for watching ads.
From a game design perspective, this 2D platformer delivers a tight, replayable core loop:
The difficulty curve was carefully tuned, with each level becoming progressively more challenging as players climb higher, facing deadlier enemies, more hazardous traps, and increasingly complex platform layouts.
To deepen the core loop, the game introduces a processing mechanic: raw food items can be thrown into a machine to cook them, upgrading them into higher-value resources that make the plant grow faster. This system adds a layer of risk–reward strategy, as players must decide whether the extra growth is worth the precious time spent processing.
Destructible objects were strategically placed throughout the levels to introduce moments of choice and reward. Players can decide whether to spend time breaking these objects to collect points, food, or both or ignore them and focus on progressing toward the exit. Over time, players naturally learn which destructible objects yield the highest rewards, allowing them to develop strategies and prioritize actions for achieving the best possible score.
Technical Overview:
The game was developed using Unity’s scene-based workflow, with a strong focus on modularity and maintainability. Core systems such as game state management, UI control, and audio handling were implemented using the Singleton design pattern, ensuring a centralized and efficient architecture that minimized overhead and simplified global access.
All game entities are driven by a multi-layered state machine architecture, designed to handle complex behavior in a vertical, platform-heavy environment. This layered approach allows for precise blending between movement states (idle, jump, climb) and AI states (patrol, chase, attack), enabling enemies to dynamically track and pursue the player even in levels filled with gaps and vertical traversal challenges.
The result is a responsive and scalable system that made it easy to iterate on enemy design, tweak difficulty, and maintain consistent behavior across different types of entities.
Storytelling was implemented through a context-aware pop-up system that dynamically responded to the player’s position and the current game state. This approach allowed key narrative beats and tutorials to be delivered seamlessly during gameplay, guiding the player through the storyline without interrupting the fast-paced platforming flow.
Persistent data focused on player progression rather than full level saves. The system recorded level completions, best records for each stage, and overall progression through the main story. This lightweight approach minimized save data complexity while still allowing players to track their achievements and advance through the narrative.
