Ian Fienberg
Game Design
Florence Vs Vapora
Summer 2024
Game Demo
Design Breakdown
Created in Unity during IndieCade’s Game Design Internship.
Inspiration:
Inspired by the online game Fireboy and Watergirl, where two characters interact with the environment to solve puzzles together.
Theme:
Set in a forest, the player controls Florence, who heals plants and animals to progress. Florence seals CO2 leaks and heals animals to activate their abilities, aiming to clean up the environment.
Obstructions:
Acidic pools and spikes send Florence back to the start of the level if touched.
Controls:
-
Left Arrow: Move Left
-
Right Arrow: Move Right
-
Spacebar: Jump
-
E: Seal CO2 Leaks/Heal and Activate Animals
Animals and Abilities:
-
Elephant: Provides extra height and holds down buttons.
-
Bird: Flies Florence to higher platforms.
-
Alligator: Crosses acidic pools.
-
Boar: Breaks breakable walls.
Contributions:
I pitched Florence vs Vapora during the ideation phase, aiming for a flexible project that aligned with the Climate Jam theme. The game blends artistic climate change elements with simple mechanics inspired by Fireboy and Watergirl. I designed levels that gradually teach the player how to interact with the environment, then challenge them to use new methods to reach the goal.
Group Members:​
This project was put together by members of the IndieCade Game Desin Internship: (Programmers) Jared Kessler and Ryan Pederson, (Artists) Abbey Gorney and Tanvi Mishra, and (Game/Level Designer), myself, Ian Fienberg
Level Design
Pictured left is a preliminary level design sketch I made displaying the various different obstacles and animals the player will encounter throughout the game, followed by a digitized version of the sketch to improve viewability. This includes animals like an elephant, bird, and alligator, each needed in order to progress through the level. Also included are healing potions, which later became healing flowers which can be used to heal sick animals. Additionally, there are CO2 gas leaks, buttons that open doors/walls, and acid pools.
As the designer of this project, I designed and developed the levels for the game. I created 6 levels, each increasing in difficulty. This was intended to mimic the anxiety boredom flow channel so that as player's skill increased with each level, the difficulty and complexity of each level would increase as well to ensure a fun and engaging player experience. Blue arrows signify the intended direction for the player to traverse. Grey arrows signify the direction an animal will go when activated.
​
​Animals are represented by circles, with an orange circle representing a boar, a grey circle representing an elephant, a blue circle representing a bird, and green circle representing an alligator​
​
Healing flowers are represented by purple ovals
​
CO2 gas leaks are represented by thin light blue ovals on walls
​
Spikes are represented by jagged black ovals
​
Acid Pools are represented by lime green ovals
​
Buttons are represented by pink ovals
​
The entrance and exit to each level are labeled and the exit door is marked by a blue rectangle
​​​​​
