GeneBoy
Design Document / Solo Project / 2025
A solo game design document for a mechanics-driven 2D platformer where transformation abilities also introduce new spatial constraints.
At a Glance
- Core mechanic / system
- Transformation abilities that create new constraints instead of simple upgrades.
- Design focus
- Spatial readability, movement values, level routes, and system learning.
- Player experience goal
- Let players reinterpret spaces as their form, movement limits, and route options change.
- My contribution
- Solo game design document, mechanics design, and level-structure planning.
- Available materials
- Case-study PDF.
Project Summary
GeneBoy currently exists as a complete game design document. I developed it as a mechanics-driven 2D platformer concept, focusing on how gameplay systems themselves can carry meaning.
The core idea of the project is transformation-based constraints. Instead of treating abilities as pure upgrades, each transformation introduces new rules and limitations that force the player to change how they move, survive, and read the level.
Design Intentions
Through these transformations, the game encourages players to rethink space itself. What once felt like a dead end may later become a valid route, and previously ignored details can suddenly gain functional meaning.
This change in perception creates moments of realization, where progress comes from understanding the system rather than being told what to do. I also paid close attention to concrete movement values such as jump distance, dash range, character size, and how mobility changes across forms, so the levels are built around implementable constraints.
Personal Contribution
The entire design document was completed independently as a solo project. GeneBoy reflects my interest in games that communicate ideas through mechanics instead of relying heavily on story or dialogue, and my attempt to explore that approach through a full, structured design.