UI Exploration
Astrobreaker(2024) started as a midcore game, but at some point in development, the team decided to pivot towards a more casual and forgiving game philosophy. The following is my UI exploration for taking the game to a matching visual style.
Campaign Map
The campaign map is the player’s homescreen. The large green Play button is a quick way to play the next level while you can also tap the individual level to see a preview or replay old levels.
Gameplay Mock
This is where we want players to spend their time, the goal was to make a gameplay screen that is softer and more relaxing. The focus is on the shooting area first, then the ultimate and power-ups section at the bottom.
Ship Designs
A large part of the metagame revolved around ship collection. Ships offer unique ultimate abilities that allow players to overcome new challenges.
In order to keep the ships from looking too serious or hardcore, we used animals as design inspiration along with big chunky shapes and bright colors. These elements let us make fun ships with personality and emphasize their collectability.
Dragonfly – Double Damage ultimate
Hammerhead – Steel Breaking ultimate
Bat – Double shot ultimate
Turtle – Bounceback shield ultimate
Homebase
The homebase is where players can handle resource economy, unlock and upgrade ships, and more. We explored a few variations for this with the player either heading a fleet of Capital Ships with the opportunity to recruit frigates, carriers and fighters, or building a space station with room for buildings of various utility.
Resource Collection Buildings
The Bricks
are naturally one of the most important parts of a brick breaker game. We explored a variety of options, trying out sharp and rounded corners, texture and value, and weighing simplicity and readability vs more visually interesting designs.
To go along with the basic bricks is an assortment of special elements and bricks. These are made to reward and challenge players, making readability paramount. We don’t want players referring back to the glossary every level.
A copilot character to guide players through the early game.