Before jumping into the design process, I ideated the game objective and a well-defined concept as the starting point. I emphasised to create a fun and familiar experience for players by using captivating cartoon style visuals. The theme of the game is an endless runner concept set in outer space. The goal is to dodge asteroids, encounter power-ups, and gather star coins while covering as much distance as possible.

I searched and played with mobile games to see examples of their game interface and to generate ideas that align with my own concept. Once ideas crossed my mind, I began wireframing to articulate them. At this stage, I felt portrait mode was too narrow, making the interface crowded, and it was better to have the game played in landscape to enhance the visual experience and to have more space to place the UI elements. I also wanted to improve the appearance of the UI elements to make them more enticing.

Overall, the prototype reduces interface complexities by centralising around relevancy and offering straightforward mechanics for users to quickly grasp the game concept. The main menu acts as the central hub for the user to rely on accessing specific features and to quickly navigate different parts of the game such as settings, shopping, achievements, and viewing their currency.

The metrics are to show a quick summary of player performance with an illustration of a rocket ship as an idea to give visual feedback that concludes it's game over. I also added buttons that give players the option to return to the main menu or play again.

Players can turn on/off the music and sound FX volumes according to their preferences and needs that gives them more control and flexibility over their game without experiencing any interruptions with their gameplay.

While designing the achievements screen, I typed clear objectives to make them relatively straightforward as possible about what needs to be accomplished. I included progress bars that act as a visual guide of the players progress towards completing an achievement, with clear indication of how close they are to earning the reward and to make the interface more scannable.

While working on this project, I developed a growth mindset, where I acquired learning about new concepts, techniques, and terminology. I sought inspiration from other games and thoroughly analysed critical factors on how these games are built and played. At the end, engaging in this project has expanded my knowledge of game design principles and served to honing my design skills.

Even though I'm a visual enthusiast who is greatly intrigued by this particular aspect of my industry, I put my focus to prioritise usability and functionality above all things, while still striking balance between visual appeal and other design aspects. I find this makes the overall design aesthetically pleasing as it provides users a seamless experience across the app, and visuals help contribute to enhancing the experience.