Project Nasu
Project Nasu is an puzzle-action-platforming game that I worked on as part of a team of three in my first year of studies at DigiPen Institute of Technology.
On this project, my responsibilities were:
Creating all of the game’s 16 levels (one tutorial level and 15 main levels)
Working closely with teammates working on the character controller so that specific level elements were sized correctly to ensure a slowly building level of difficulty
Modified levels to accommodate 45 collectible coins throughout the game for the player to collect that reveal the story’s “true ending”
Each of the levels in Project Nasu follows an engagement that was carefully planned out before being created. In each level, I followed the Kishōtenketsu narrative structure, where each level has a setup, development, some kind of twist, and a resolution.
The tutorial level sets you up with some onscreen controls and an introduction to the rat enemy; an enemy that will appear in later levels.
This next section introduces you to your bullet count. In Project Nasu, the player can shoot projectiles from their snout, which propels them in the opposite direction. If they shoot downwards, Nasu is flung upwards. If they shoot left, they are flung to the right. The player navigates this section using their knowledge of the shooting controls and how many shots they can take while airborne. To the top-right is a button that the player must shoot, as it’s too high to jump up to hit with the character’s body.
The tutorial’s twist comes here. If the player shoots left, they fling themself into the spikes. Instead, the player must shoot left to deactivate the platform. The player learns through this that buttons can both be pressed with projectiles and the player’s body.
This final section of the tutorial introduces the Bullet Bubble, which refills the player’s projectile supply while airborne – something that only otherwise happens when the player lands on the ground.
The first actual level introduces the player to coins – an additional collectible the player can collect if they want to see the game’s true ending. The player also begins to get a grip on how high they can jump with one bullet and two.
This section requires the player to shoot sideways to propel themselves over the spikes. After shooting horizontally, the player is propelled in the other direction and gravity is briefly ignored, allowing for interesting challenge design.
The level ends with a vertical jump challenge, and the player is rewarded with the last coin.
Level 2 begins with an introduction to the basic platform. The player can jump through it but cannot fall down through it.
The next room requires the player to drop down through a group of the same kind of platforms.
The next challenge involves a moving platform, which follows a visible track. This is a twist on the typical platform, which sits stationary.
And finally, the level ends with a reminder of the button-activated platform, which was first seen in the tutorial.
Level 3 introduces the player to button-deactivated lasers, and bullet bouncers. Bullets will bounce off these pink triangles and allow for some creative puzzle design. In any case, the player needs to find where to stand, fire a projectile, and navigate past the deactivated laser before it turns back on.
Near the end of the level, there’s a small puzzle that involves deactivating a laser before backtracking slightly to grab the coin.
Near the end of the level, there’s a small puzzle that involves deactivating a laser before backtracking slightly to grab the coin.
Level 4 is all about lasers. The level starts with a reminder of what the button-deactivated laser does.
The next room challenges the player to navigate through some lasers that turn on and off according to a timer.
The very next challenge involves navigating past a sweeping laser, which moves back and forth through a 90-degree arc without turning off.
Then finally, the level ends with another sweeping laser challenge, instead this time, the laser moves up and down. This changes how the player approaches the challenge.
Level 5 is based around these trampoline platforms, which bounce Nasu back up to the height he initially fell from before bouncing on it. The player first navigates between some vertical columns, which come up throughout the level.
The player must bounce on the trampoline at least once and use several shots to reach the next section.
The next part involves navigating through vertical columns with spikes attached. This is a simple evolution of the first section, and a development of the initial setup.
This final section challenges the player to grab a coin after getting a big bounce out of the trampoline to clear the first part of the obstacle, then using bullets while airborne to clear the remainder of the spikes.
Level 6 focuses on lasers again, specifically the sweeping and timer-based ones. The first challenge requires the player to dodge it by navigating under a small block.
This challenge is developed further by making the player navigate above the laser for the next one.
The third one needs the player to dodge under a tiny block, which only blocks the laser for a split-second as it sweeps past.
After dropping down to a lower level, the player can optionally navigate through a challenge for a coin.
This challenge is an evolution of a previous one, where the player now needs to be aware of the timer-based lasers as they avoid the sweeping one.
The penultimate challenge may look similar to the optional challenge from before, having two sweeping lasers move back and forth.
The final challenge of this level involves the player moving past three sweeping lasers while avoiding two timer-based ones as well. The left-right symmetry of this section helps the player navigate it.
Level 7 also has a laser focus. This level reintroduces the bullet bouncers, which the player has to use to deactivate the lasers.
This level also begins with a quick dash across a horizontal section where the player needs to be aware that a time-based laser will turn on again soon.
This section lets the player optionally try to nab a coin, which is hidden behind a button-deactivated laser. To deactivate it, they must hit the button with a bullet. However, this all has to be done before the time-based laser turns back on, and after the button is hit, the button-deactivated laser turns back on after about 5 seconds. The player needs to time everything properly to obtain this coin.
As a small reward for making it this far, the player gets to enjoy watching a bullet bounce off ten different bullet bouncers before it deactivates the laser blocking their path.
The final section of this level involves a much longer horizontal stretch where the player must dash sideways repeatedly to make it all the way.
Level 8 contains many expansive areas that utilize the bullet bubbles abundantly. This first area requires the player to use four bullets in total (two at first, two more from the bullet bubble) to cross a large gap.
This next challenge requires the player to navigate vertically, again using four shots in total. This is the development of the first challenge.
The third room requires the player to navigate a large section with multiple bullet bubbles throughout it. The player needs to carefully plan out how to use each one.
The final section of this level needs the player to be coordinated with proper timing. It combines shooting vertically and shooting horizontally into a challenge that is covered with spikes.
Level 9 begins with a cheeky collectible coin hidden before the start of the level.
The first real challenge involves eliminating (or dodging past) a couple of rat enemies in an otherwise open room. This reintroduces the rat enemy from the tutorial, allowing the player to learn how they move and interact with the environment.
The next room has more rats and a much lower ceiling. The player can shoot these rats to eliminate them, or try to navigate up and over each one. The low ceiling changes the player approaches this challenge.
As a twist on this challenge of killing or avoiding rats, the player now has to deal with boxes that spawn rats. If a box spawns a rat, it cannot spawn another one until after that rat is killed, so these rooms don’t get flooded with rats. Even still, the player has to compete with this nearly perpetual obstacle while navigating this space.
Then as one final challenge, rats descend from platforms above after being spawned from boxes. Having to progress vertically while rats make their way down each platform is substantially more challenging than navigating past them horizontally.
Level 10 has an interesting theme. This level is all about putting yourself in a dangerous position, then escaping it all in one fluid motion. In this first room, the player needs to shoot the button to deactivate the laser, but doing so will propel them backwards towards a pit of spikes. Using their second shot, the player needs to recover by shooting downwards and steering themself back to safety.
Here is a development of that same idea; first shoot left to hit the button, then quickly shoot down to propel yourself up to clear the platform when the laser is already off.
This further development requires two precisely timed downward shots to deactivate each laser in sequence. If one shot is mistimed, it will result in a failed attempt of this challenge.
The final challenge involves shooting a button deep in a pit of spikes, then recovering using two full shots granted by a bullet bubble. The player needs to pull off two of these in succession to prove that they have mastered this concept.
The final challenge involves shooting a button deep in a pit of spikes, then recovering using two full shots granted by a bullet bubble. The player needs to pull off two of these in succession to prove that they have mastered this concept.
Level 11 is all about being comfortable being in the air for long stretches at a time. This first challenge is a tall vertical room with bullet bubbles near the right and left sides. The player needs to use each shot to continue progressing vertically until they reach a safe platform at the top of the room.
Level 11 is all about being comfortable being in the air for long stretches at a time. This first challenge is a tall vertical room with bullet bubbles near the right and left sides. The player needs to use each shot to continue progressing vertically until they reach a safe platform at the top of the room.
This next room cleverly uses two time-based lasers to dictate when you can enter and leave the room. In this room, the player needs to figure out that they must stall in the air for as much time as possible, making full use of every shot from all three bullet bubbles before exiting the room to the right.
This next room cleverly uses two time-based lasers to dictate when you can enter and leave the room. In this room, the player needs to figure out that they must stall in the air for as much time as possible, making full use of every shot from all three bullet bubbles before exiting the room to the right.
This room twists this new idea, requiring the player to be patient and move through when the sweeping laser moves under the spiky block.
This final room is like the first, where the player must continuously shoot downwards to propel themselves up a tall room. This time, however, a time-based laser shoots down from the top of the level for a split-second at a time. The player needs to match the tempo of the laser in order to move left and right past it at the right times.
This final room is like the first, where the player must continuously shoot downwards to propel themselves up a tall room. This time, however, a time-based laser shoots down from the top of the level for a split-second at a time. The player needs to match the tempo of the laser in order to move left and right past it at the right times.
Level 12 is all about the button-activated platform, which the player hasn’t seen in a while. To remind the player of what it does, the player first gets a chance to navigate vertically using one.
The next challenge has the player walk off a ledge, shoot a button to activate a platform while positioning themselves underneath said platform, then shoot downwards to get up onto it.
A coin exists in the same room, and the button to activate the platform underneath it is at the end of the room in the safe area on the other side.
The next room invites a new challenge involving the sweeping laser, requiring the player to jump in at the right time to activate a platform to hide from it.
This final challenge requires the player to activate the platform below, then shoot left at the perfect time when they drop down to land on the platform. They also need to get out before the platform deactivates.
Level 13 introduces laser-spitting hamsters, who spit lasers whenever they turn around. They turn around when they hit a wall or when they reach the edge of a platform. For this coin challenge, the player first needs to deactivate the platform using the button, and sneak in to get the coin without touching the hamster.
Another coin challenge further into the level requires the player to navigate past another hamster. This time though, the small ledges to the left and right aren’t safe.
A development of the first challenge is this vertical section, where the player needs to fall past each hamster at the right time while they aren’t spitting out a laser.
The final section of this level requires the player to be aware of a hamster who can spit a laser a far horizontal distance. To get the last coin, the player needs to sneak behind the hamster until they can just reach the coin without being touched.
Level 14 reintroduces moving platforms, which follow visible tracks. The first room also hides the level’s first coin.
The second room requires the player to navigate through a section with two vertically-moving platforms which travel up and down quickly.
The final room twists this idea, where now the player needs to stay on each platform as long as possible before jumping to the next one.
Level 15 is a gauntlet of ridiculous challenges the player faces while running from a deadly wall of spikes. First, one spike pit. Then a spike pit that requires two shots. Then two consecutive spike pits.
Then a couple of sections that require dashing horizontally.
And finally, one long horizontal stretch where the player continuously shoots left to propel themselves all the way to the end.
And at last, the player can be free as soon as they reach the light. Again, each of these levels follows the Kishōtenketsu structure, where it introduces some idea, develops it, twists it, and provides some resolution to the challenge.