Shovel Knight Game Study #1 - Beginning area and Lich Knight

Core mechanic

The core mechanics are built area the shovel; the simple actions of side hits and down strikes.

They're given a simple action and interaction with the levels and for good reason.

I do truly believe Shovel Knight would be broken as a concept if you had back air strikes with the shovel and other forms of strikes with the shovel making it too useful.

You can upgrade the shovel but only as an optional thing, making it where your depth of the shovel is only optional, it's the other tools that you use with your shovel as in Synergy focused.

Your support mechanics are built to prop up the main mechanic. 

Beginning area

This is the area where the basic mechanics are taught to you with how things are performed.

The simple step of teach A then B then C, then combine A and B, then combine C and B; so on and so forth until you combine all the mechanics together.

This isn't a bad design idea.

Lich Knight

For the lich knight area you're combining Side shovel hits and popping up on the spinning plant, this beginning area teaches you how to use that A and B together with a new idea.

The ideas combine together tell you what this are a will be focused on.

I wouldn't even say the ideas of the level are built around death expect for the un-killable enemies and the ones that don't go down so easily, they're lich themed.

If I do make a death knight stage for my Megaman-esc game, I need to think about enemy designs and how they're built on concept building idea a into idea b.

The synergy between the enemies and your tools are important in mobility focused games.

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