Games Development// Task 1: Game Design Document
21/4/2025 - 17/5/2025 / Week 1 - Week 4
Angel Tan Xin Kei / 0356117
Games Development / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Task 1: Game Design Document
Timeframe: Week 01 – Week 05
Description:
Students are required to design and create their own 2D side scrolling/platformer game. The game design document serves as a blueprint for their game and will contain all the necessary information and visual references to develop the game. Sample GDD will be provided as a reference, but students are expected to research more on the matter to determine the necessary content items for their own GDD.
Requirements:
To complete all exercises to demonstrate understanding of the technical knowledge required to develop a platformer game.
Submission:
- Online posts in your E-portfolio as your reflective studies
- Google Doc or PDF
Siang Huey Yee:We were divided into groups of three, and I was teamed up with Angel and Yuk Guan. Initially, each of us came up with a preliminary game idea, and we voted on which one to proceed with. The idea that received the most votes was Shadow Stitcher, so we decided to move forward with it.
Huey Yee's Ideation:
Topic Name: Magic Academy
Game References:
Super Mario Bros. (1985) Full Walkthrough NES Gameplay
[Nostalgia]
I Tried Every Fireboy and Watergirl Speedrun
Topic Description:
A magical side-scroller where the player is a young wizard on their way to Magic Academy. They must prove their worth by completing a trial path filled with obstacles and mini-puzzles related to their chosen elemental power.
Aim/Objectives:
- Choose one of five magical elements at the start (Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Lightning).
- Avoid magical traps and natural obstacles based on the environment.
Reach the gates of the academy to pass the entrance trial.
Game style:
Side-scrolling magical platformer with a slight fantasy RPG feel. The game focuses only on movement and jumping, no complex combat.
Colour scheme:
- Fire: Red/Orange
- Water: Blue/Cyan
- Earth: Green/Brown
- Air: White/Sky Blue
- Lightning: Purple/Yellow
Element List (choose one at the start):
- Fire – burns barriers (represented in visuals only)
- Water – passes through waterfalls safely
- Earth – breaks stone walls (visually unlocked paths)
- Air – longer jump/floating
- Lightning – activates electric bridges or zaps obstacles
Reach the gates of the academy to pass the entrance trial.
After further discussion and task distribution among the three of us, we created our proposal slides and refined the original idea. We modified the game setting and renamed it "Shadowed Self" to better align with the new concept.
To encourage collaboration, I shared a Pinterest pin on Games Design to collect additional references and immediately share them with my group members. This helped us visually align our ideas and build a cohesive direction for the game world.
My Pinterest Shared Pin Link: https://pin.it/51DPhis5A
I contributed to the refinement of our game idea by developing several key components, including the Introduction, Aim & Objectives, Target Audiences, and the Mockups for our game. I was specifically responsible for designing the Level 2 mockups, while Angel focused on the Level 1 mockup design, ensuring each level visually communicated the game's tone and mechanics.
Meanwhile, Yuk Guan worked on the Game Mechanics, where she detailed and clearly outlined how features like movement, stealth, light avoidance, and upgrades would function, helping to define the gameplay experience and its emotional impact.
Together, we combined our individual contributions to further develop and strengthen the overall concept of "Shadowed Self".
- Introduction
I crafted the game’s introduction, outlining the core concept and emotional foundation of Shadowed Self. I focused on establishing the mood, main character, and overall tone, highlighting the game’s themes of self-confidence, identity, and fear.
Introduction
Aim & ObjectivesI developed the key gameplay goals and player objectives to guide the game's progression. This includes definition on how players interact with the world, what they must achieve in each level, and how success leads to character growth and narrative resolution.
Aim & Objectives
Target Audience I identified and described the primary target audiences for our game. This includes casual gamers, atmospheric indie fans, and younger teens—players who would be most drawn to the game’s emotional story, stealth mechanics, and visual style.
Mockups DesignI created mockups for the game’s light obstacles and protection elements, visually representing how players would interact with and avoid light-based threats. These mockups help visualize level hazards and support the stealth gameplay concept central to Shadowed Self. Level 2 Mockups Design 1 - Candle Walkers
Level 2 Mockups Design 2 - Dash Movements
Level 2 Mockups Design 3 - Light Beams
Level 2 Mockups Design 4 - Mirror (Reflecting Lights)
Level 2 Mockups Design 5 - Light Traps
Angel Tan
All of us came up with three different game ideas. My idea was actually inspired by a Mario Party mini-game. In my concept, the player controls a character flying left and right in the air, collecting bubbles to score points. The idea is based on controlling a hot air balloon that rises as it gathers more bubbles, making the gameplay simple yet engaging.
Game Concept: Balloon Up 🎈 (Inspired by: Super Mario Party – Go with the Flow)
In Balloon Up, you play as an adorable, incomplete character a plushie missing limbs or a robot missing parts floating upward while holding onto a balloon. As you ascend, you must tilt left and right to collect bubbles that either restore pieces of yourself or earn you points. Your ultimate goal: become whole again before reaching the top.
Objective:
- Rebuild yourself by collecting missing body parts.
- Avoid hazards that can damage or slow your progress.
- Reach the top of the sky level before time runs out.
- Earn a high completion score based on how whole you’ve become.
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| Fig 2.1 Mario Party- Go with the Flow |
After presenting all our game ideas, we voted to choose the most promising one. Icese’s game, Shadowed Self, received the most votes, so we decided to move forward with developing her concept for the project.
1) Moodboard
To encourage collaboration, I created a shared Pinterest folder where every group member could contribute their inspirations. This allowed us to visually align our ideas and understand how each of us envisioned the game world. It became a central place for collecting references and helped us find a cohesive direction that everyone could agree on.
Shared Pinterest Pin Board: https://pin.it/5QmcHRgOI
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| Fig 2.3 Shared Pinterest Boards |
I started by creating a moodboard to capture the aesthetic direction we wanted. This included visual references like color palettes, lighting inspiration, character vibes, and possible environment styles. I explored different themes that matched the storyline and mechanics of our game, eventually narrowing it down to something that felt surreal, slightly eerie, and emotionally resonant.
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| Fig 2.4 Finalised Moodboards |
I also developed the color scheme based on our moodboard which inspiured by Pinterest. The palette had to reflect the mood of the gamewhether it was soft and dreamlike, dark and mysterious, or something in between. I made sure the colors could work well across the user interface, environment art, and character design.
Fig 2.5 Overview of Colour Palettes
- Base Form: A soft-edged black shadow silhouette.
- Progress Indicators: Glowing, stitched lines (white, soft blue, or violet) run across the body and light up more as pieces are collected.
- Final Form: A complete glowing shadow with a soft aura—still shadow, but self-possessed and radiant.
- Light Sources: Bright whites, glowing yellows, flickering ambers (candlelight, hallway lamps).
- Danger Lights: Sharp edges and bloom effects; contact causes tearing/glitching of the shadow.
- Safe Light (Late Game): Soft white light with halo glow, representing healing and understanding.
- Typography: Delicate serif or handwritten style—like a stitched storybook.
- Menus & HUD: Minimal, patchwork style (buttons appear like fabric labels or sewn-on notes).
- Sound Design: Ambient tones, distant whispers, toy-like music box themes that evolve into gentle, confident piano or strings by the final level.
Overall, my focus was on unifying the game’s emotional and visual identity from the ground up. It’s been really exciting to shape the project’s atmosphere and contribute to how players will eventually experience the world we’re building.
Lastly, we came up with our group name, "Shadowed-Self" which plays a key role in giving our team a shared identity. I wanted something that felt meaningful and matched the spirit of our game. It helped set the tone not just for our visuals but also for how we presented ourselves during discussions and presentations.
During the proposal development stage, we encountered several challenges and disagreements as a team. While we were aligned on the overall theme and mood of the game, we realized that our initial gameplay direction had some issues both in terms of clarity and functionality.
1) Crafting the Narrative & Moral
As part of shaping the emotional core of our game, I took the lead in developing the storyline and the moral message behind it. I wanted the game to feel meaningful—not just visually immersive, but emotionally resonant as well.
The story follows a unique perspective:
"You are the shadow of a child—fragile, incomplete, and terrified of the light.At first, the light feels like your enemy: harsh, blinding, and erasing everything you've tried to reclaim.You drift through a surreal world stitched together by broken memories and lost feelings.As you collect pieces of yourself, you begin to remember who you are.What once seemed frightening starts to shift. You realize the light wasn’t trying to hurt you—it was showing you what you were too scared to face.
In the end, when you become whole again, you no longer hide from the light.You stand in it not as a shadow but as someone confident, complete, and unafraid.This story is symbolic of self-discovery, healing, and emotional growth. It touches on themes of fear, acceptance, and transformation."
The moral of the game is that sometimes what we fear the most is what we need to face in order to grow. The light, once seen as a threat, turns out to be the key to becoming whole again. Fear fades when we understand ourselves. Confidence is not about being perfect—it's about embracing who we are, even the parts we've hidden in the dark.
 Fig 3.1 Storyline of the Game |
2) Game Play
This narrative structure also ties into the gameplay, especially in how the player’s relationship with light evolves across the three levels. The ending where the shadow finally steps into the light represents the peak of personal transformation, or what I call the “Hierarchy Peak” of the story arc.
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| Fig 3.2 Development of 3-Level Game Progression |
We also identified a few bugs and logical gaps in the early version of the gameplay. These problems made us reflect on how to make the experience smoother and more engaging for players.
After multiple discussions, we collectively decided to revamp the gameplay. Instead of a single linear progression, we chose to split the game into three distinct levels, each with its own unique mechanics, pacing, and challenges. This not only helped resolve some of the earlier concerns but also gave us more room to explore creativity and ensure the gameplay would remain fresh and immersive.
D. Refinement of Game Design and Mechanic
After presenting our proposal to the lecturer, we received constructive feedback that helped us see our game from a new perspective. One of the key points highlighted was that our game mechanics could be more creative and better aligned with the storyline. While our concept was strong narratively, the gameplay itself needed to reflect the emotional journey of the character more effectively.
1.Game Play:
Taking that feedback seriously, we went back and re-evaluated our mechanics, exploring ways to make them more symbolic and immersive so that the player's actions would feel more connected to the theme of transformation, fear, and self-discovery.
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2. Update Mock-Ups:
Along with the gameplay revision, my team members Siang Huey Yee and I also updated the mockup designs to reflect these changes more clearly. The new mockups show a more accurate and cohesive version of our gameplay experience, with visuals that better represent the mood, level structure, and how the player interacts with the world alongside with the explanation in the slides:
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| Fig 4.2 Refined Level 1 Mock-Up |
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| Fig 4.3 Refined Level 1 Mock-Up |
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| Fig 4.4 Refined Level 2 Mock-Up |
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| Fig 4.5 Refined Level 2 Mock-Up |
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| Fig 4.6 Refined Level 3 Mock-Up |
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| Fig 4.7 Refined Level 3 Mock-Up |
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| Fig 4.8 Refined Level 3 Mock-Up |
Phoon Yuk Guan
A. First Ideation
Yuk Guan
Before we started, we decided to brainstorm and come up with our own unique game ideas for a 2D side-scrolling platformer. After exploring different directions, I decided to develop a concept that blends a little bit of mystery, emotion, and puzzle-solving together—something that feels both simple and meaningful.
Overall Concept:
Shadow Stitcher is a side-view platformer game where you play as a small shadow creature that has lost parts of its body. I thought it would be cool to explore a character who isn't chasing fame or power but simply wants to be whole again. The world is made out of fabric materials like denim, felt, and wool, and the game is designed to feel soft and handcrafted—but with a twist. In this world, light is dangerous, and shadows are your only protection.
Topic Name: Shadow Stitcher
Topic Description:
You play as a small shadow creature that lost its full body. Now, you move through a world made of cloth and light. Your goal is to find shadow pieces and sew yourself back together. But be careful—bright lights can hurt you!
Aim/Objectives
The main goal of the game is to help the shadow creature find and collect lost shadow pieces scattered across each level. As you collect more pieces, your character gradually regains its full form.
The core objectives I designed are:
- Collect shadow pieces to rebuild your body.
- Stay out of the light or you’ll lose progress.
- Reach the final sewing machine to become whole again.
This idea came from the concept of self-repair and growth. I wanted the player to feel the progress not just through levels, but by literally seeing their character evolve with every piece they collect.
Game style
I kept the controls simple: move left, move right, and jump. But I also added some puzzle-platformer elements to make the gameplay feel richer:
- A side-view puzzle and jumping game.
- Move left, right, and jump.
- Hide in the shadows to stay safe.
- Use thread to unlock cool moves like double jump or short dash
I imagine this game being calming in some areas and intense in others—a balance between quiet exploration and tricky timing.
Game Features
To make the gameplay more engaging, I included a few distinct features:
- 🧵 Shadow Pieces: These are hidden around the level.
- Collect them to grow stronger.
- ☀️ Light Beams: Try not to touch them! They remove your shadow pieces.
- 🕯️ Candle Guards: Moving lights that you must sneak past.
🪡 Sewing Points: Special places where you add your collected pieces to your body.
I think these features will help build a deeper connection between the gameplay and the story—making every piece you collect feel valuable.
Colour scheme
Since the world is made of fabric, I went for a soft, handcrafted look. Here’s the general palette and visual theme I’m aiming for:
- Character: A dark shadow with glowing lines. The more pieces you collect, the more complete you look.
- World: Looks like fabric—like denim or felt. Calm colors like blue, dark green, and soft gold.
- Light & Danger: Bright white or yellow lights.
Buttons and Text: Look like they are stitched with threads
Compilation of Our Ideas:
B. Game Proposal
After presenting all our game ideas, we held a group vote to decide which concept we would develop together. I was really happy that my game, Shadow Stitcher, received the most votes. It was encouraging to see that my idea resonated with the team. However, during our discussion, we decided to make a few adjustments to the concept, especially regarding the theme and title. Since we agreed not to include stitching as a core mechanic anymore, we thought the original name no longer fit the updated direction.
So, we renamed the game to Shadowed Self—a title that still captures the mood and meaning of the original idea but gives us more creative flexibility in terms of gameplay and visuals.
1) Game Style
When shaping the world of Shadowed Self, one of the most important aspects I focused on was the overall game style—how it looks, feels, and plays. This part of the design helps set the tone and emotional atmosphere, creating a deeper connection between the player and the journey of the shadow creature.
🎮 Genre:
Shadowed Self falls under the genre of a 2D Puzzle Platformer, but with a meaningful twist. It combines classic jumping and puzzle-solving mechanics withemotional storytelling and a unique light-based challenge system. This mix keeps the gameplay engaging while allowing us to tell a quiet but powerful story about identity and self-growth.
👁️ Perspective:
The game uses a side-view perspective to maintain that classic platformer feel. However, to make the world more immersive, we’re including layered parallax backgrounds that shift gently as the player moves. This helps create a dreamlike atmosphere—as if the shadow is moving through memories or inner thoughts rather than a typical “level.”
🕯️ Tone & Feel:
From the very start, we wanted Shadowed Self to feel soft, eerie, and emotionally reflective. There’s a delicate balance between mystery and comfort. At the beginning of the game, players feel fragile and unsure, just like the incomplete shadow character. But as they collect pieces, avoid light, and solve puzzles, the tone begins to shift.
The world slowly becomes more empowering and hopeful—mirroring the shadow’s growth and healing. This emotional shift is something we really wanted to emphasize, using not just story and dialogue, but also visuals, movement, music, and even the way the player interacts with light and shadow.
2) Game Mechanism
As we started developing Shadowed Self together as a team, I had the chance to expand on the core mechanics and bring my original idea (Shadow Stitcher) into a more refined and emotionally driven experience. This section of our Game Design Document focuses on the gameplay mechanics and how they reflect the journey of our shadow protagonist.
🎮 Movement & Controls
You control a small shadow creature in a side-scrolling world, where movement is simple but meaningful. The player can walk, jump, and as the game progresses, unlock special moves such as:
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Double Jump – allows the player to jump again while in the air, useful for reaching high platforms or escaping danger.
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Shadow Dash – a short burst of speed used to avoid hazards or bypass short gaps quickly.
These mechanics evolve as the shadow regains parts of itself, making gameplay progression feel directly tied to the character’s growth.
🧩 Collecting Shadow Pieces
The core objective of the game is to collect shadow pieces—fragments of the character’s lost form. These pieces are hidden around the level: behind objects, tucked into dark corners, or floating in tricky spots.
What I love about this mechanic is that it makes exploration meaningful. Every time a player finds a piece, they see it stick to the character’s body, slowly revealing arms, legs, or a face. It visually and emotionally reflects the shadow's journey of becoming whole again.
☀️ Light as a Threat
In this world, light isn’t your friend—it’s your biggest danger. It symbolizes fear, self-doubt, and emotional barriers. If the shadow touches light, they lose progress or get sent back to the last checkpoint. It adds tension but also a deeper layer of symbolism to the game.
We designed a few different types of light hazards to keep gameplay fresh:
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Light Beams – Static lights that flicker on and off. Timing is key to pass through safely.
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Candle Walkers – Flame-like enemies that patrol with a small moving light. You need to stay hidden or move stealthily to avoid them.
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Light Traps – Environmental lights that activate in patterns, requiring players to watch, wait, and act at the right moment.
📦 Hiding and Puzzle Solving
To survive, players must learn how to use the environment wisely. There are spots to hide behind objects, inside boxes, or in natural shadows. Some sections involve puzzle-solving, especially with light and shadow:
- Moving objects to block light beams
- Timing movements to sneak through safely
- Using the dash move to pass between hazards quickly
These puzzles aren’t just obstacles—they reflect the inner struggle of the character, learning to adapt and navigate challenges with courage and cleverness.
🎯 Goal & Emotional Journey
Each level of Shadowed Self is not just a physical space—it’s a chapter in the shadow’s emotional journey.From fear to growth, and finally, to healing, the world changes as the character changes. The player's ultimate goal is to collect all shadow pieces and reach the end of each chapter.
If the player manages to collect all shadow fragments, they unlock the true ending—a moment where the shadow reunites with its original form, a child. This ending symbolizes emotional self-acceptance and inner confidence, the very heart of this game’s message.
Final Submission of Game Design Document
After multiple rounds of brainstorming, refining our mechanics, we successfully finalised our proposal, ensuring that every element from the narrative and game mechanics to the visuals and gameplay structure was cohesive and clearly presented.
Game Title: Shadowed Self
Brief Description:
Shadowed Self is a 2D narrative-driven puzzle-platformer where you play as the lost shadow of a child, separated from your true self and afraid of the light. Set in a surreal, dreamlike world filled with flickering lights and eerie childhood spaces, you must navigate through shadows, solve light-based puzzles, and recover pieces of your identity. The game explores themes of self-acceptance, fear, and emotional healing, making players reflect on what it means to become whole again.
We presented our initial concept and proposal to our lecturer. The core idea of a shadow child navigating a surreal, emotional world was well-received for its narrative depth and symbolic potential. However, we were given the following feedback that game mechanics needed stronger alignment with the storyline also could be more creative. The idea of light being both dangerous and healing was powerful, but the mechanics didn’t fully express that yet. We were encouraged to work more collaboratively across roles to make sure story, visuals, and gameplay evolved together.
Experience:
The ideation phase for Shadowed Self was one of the most creatively exciting parts of the project. Initially, each of us had very different ideas in terms of genre, theme, and mood. As we moved forward and shared inspirations, we explored a variety of mechanics and emotional narratives eventually landing on a surreal and symbolic game rooted in shadow, light, and identity. While the core concept leans toward a dark, dreamlike experience, we still wanted the gameplay to feel simple and intuitive, something approachable like Mario Kart, but with emotional weight.
This phase taught me the importance of not only aligning our ideas as a team, but also supporting each other’s strengths and being open to changes. Every iteration whether in story, mechanics, or visuals brought us closer to a clearer and more cohesive direction.
Observation:
As development continued, I realized that balancing gameplay with a meaningful narrative is far more complex than expected. Referring to Game Flow Theory, a well-designed game should touch on multiple psychological factors such as Sensation, Fantasy, Narrative, Challenge, Control, Curiosity, Surprise, and even Submission.
For Shadowed Self, the added challenge was embedding a moral narrative with the themes of fear, self-doubt, light vs. shadow, and self-discovery into the very mechanics of the game. We didn’t want the message to be spoon-fed; we wanted players to feel it. That meant every design choice whether it was level structure, asset motion, or how players collect pieces of themselves , had to support the overall theme naturally.
Findings:
This project helped me understand that the deepest impact comes when gameplay and story work together seamlessly. A game that’s only fun but lacks depth can feel hollow. On the other hand, a game that’s rich in meaning but lacks playability may fail to hold a player’s attention.Through feedback sessions and iterative improvements, I’ve learned that mechanics should carry meaning, not just function. From animating light fragments to refining background transitions in Unity, every asset became part of the story and that integration made the game feel more alive.In short, Shadowed Self taught me not to treat story and mechanics as separate lanes, but to design them as two parts of one emotional journey. I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for the creative process in game development, and I’m excited to carry this mindset into future projects.
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