High Roller is a platform game where the player guides a ball through a 3D course full of physics-based obstacles and dangerous creatures.
I built High Roller in January 2022, during my personal “One Game a Month” challenge. It is my second game built using the Unity engine. In a departure from the previous projects in this series, High Roller uses 3D graphics and features hand-designed static levels instead of procedural content.
Gameplay
This project is heavily inspired by the arcade game Marble Madness. Like that game, the objective is to move your spherical protagonist to a goal tile at the end of increasingly complicated courses. It features similarly abstract level design with simple visuals. The player controls the ball by applying directional force, but the influences of inertia and gravity heavily influence its movement.
Influences
Marble Madness. This is, obviously, the primary influence for High Roller. Marble Madness is the original entry in the “marble racing” genre. It pairs incredibly tight controls and creative level design to create a high difficulty, compelling experience.
Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll. Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll was developed much later than Marble Madness, but provides a similar platforming experience on an isometric grid. This game features more diverse puzzles and enemy types which served as inspiration for elements of High Roller.
Mechanics
To be determined.
Development of High Roller
The development of High Roller will take place completely during the month of January 2022. As development progresses, I will be narrating the process in the project’s Development Log.