Screenshot of the game WAKE. It shows a level with a sand desert setting from a 2D side-scrolling perspective. At the left side an alarm clock stands on top of a water fountain. In the center is a giant gear that the alarm clock needs to cross to reach a green window on the oder side. The window displays a certain time frame and little 'Z's arise from it to suggest the person asleep behind the window. The UI at the top of the screen displays a menu button, the current time and an inventory.

Screenshot of the game WAKE. It shows a level with a dark forest setting from a 2D side-scrolling perspective. At the center of the screen is an alarm clock that is being wound up. There is a wind-up key above it and arrows point to the left and right. On its right side there are two gears and a white window. On its left side there is a giant scale, a green window and a pink balloon with a letter tied to it.

Screenshot of the game WAKE. It shows a book page with the page number 1 and the message 'New Page Collected!' in the top left. On the page is an image of a flower box falling from a balcony and a poem: 'The world suddenly is standing still. Every clock stopped ticking, but there's a goal to fulfill. Ending the eternal sleep of mankind. There are houses to enter - but what will you find?' There is a menu button in the top left, a back button in the bottom left and a button to open the whole story book in the bottom right of the screen.

Screenshot of the game WAKE. It shows a level with a water setting from a 2D side-scrolling perspective. At the left side an alarm clock stands on top of a raft. To the right flies a cuckoo clock towards a hole between some vines that block the way to a green window. Below the vines appears to be a floodgate and under water, below the cuckoo clock is a white window. The UI at the top of the screen displays a menu button, the current time and an inventory.

Screenshot of the game Wake that shows the different clocks. On the left side is an alarm clock. Below the description: 'The hero of our journey and the only clock left unbroken. It can enter peoples dreams.' In the center is a grandfather clock. Below the description: 'A very heavy clock that can not be raised. Other clocks are unable to pass it.' At the right side is a cuckoo clock. Below the description: 'This clock can fly over water and other objects. It will never die from falling.'

Screenshot of the game that shows the success screen after a level has been completed. In the background the level can be seen, overlayed by the silhouette of a city with illuminated windows. In the foreground The message: 'You saved the day!' Below are three buttons: 'Go to the Bedroom' (main menu), 'Go to the Neighborhood' (level selection) and 'Dream Again' (replay the level), while the second one is currently selected.

WAKE

#2D

#Games

#Mobile

#Unity

WAKE is a puzzle game for Android. When one day all the clocks stopped working, the world fell into an eternal sleep. The player controls an alarm clock, unaffected by the curse that must free people from their dream worlds. When the alarm clock is wound up, it begins to run forward and the time is ticking with every step. The longer the alarm clock is wound up, the more steps it takes and the more time passes. Each person must be woken up at a specific time. So the player has to make sure to move the alarm clock to the right place at the right time to wake up a person – every step counts!

The levels are composed of the dreams of the sleeping persons. When a person is woken up, the associated dream elements disappear. The level changes and new paths and possibilities are opened up. In later levels there are also interactive elements that the player can move via touch input to change the level, items that the alarm clock can collect and use elsewhere, and broken clocks. If one of the clocks is repaired, it can also be wound and moved. Each clock has different properties that the player must use to solve the puzzles. WAKE consists of 8 levels and has a total play time of about 2-3 hours.

Under the studio name "Puzzled Apart" we developed WAKE in a team of five in the master's degree "Media and Game Design" at the Harz University of Applied Sciences. Over a period of just under a year, the project went through all the usual stages of game development: from the first pitch and the concept phase, to the development of increasingly elaborate prototypes, the design and implementation of the levels, testing and polishing, to the final release in the Google Play Store. During this process, I was responsible for leading the team. While the other team members were in charge of the environment art (Jenny Albrecht), character art, animation & sounds (Marcel Jürß), UI/UX (Madeleine Reinwald) and marketing & quality assurance (Johanna Daher), I took care of the game and level design, project management as well as the technical implementation in Unity.

The same level can be seen in three different versions. The first one in the top left shows the first level design. Everything is arranged on a grid and only displayed as basic shapes. The second one in the bottom left shows the concept art made by the artist for this level. The third one on the right shows the implementation, including all final assets. — First level design, concept art and final implementation.

One of the level designs can be seen here. These were then discussed, adjusted and refined in the team. The final designs were then handed over to the environment artist to create the required assets before the levels were finally implemented and tested in Unity. As the project manager, I also had an overview of the project in general, distributed tasks and coordinated workflows. Including clearly defined milestones, market and competitor analysis, risk management and testing with different player groups, the entire game development process was completed within a year.

Download WAKE in the Google Play Store!

Development period:

April 2017 - March 2018

Technologies:

Other project members:

Johanna Daher | Jenny Albrecht | Marcel Jürß | Madeleine Reinwald