Summary
Type: Personal Project
Completed: Released
Acquirable: Itch.io
My Role: Game Designer
Time Frame: 4 weeks part-time (approx. 40 hours)
Overview
Succ Cannon is a first person puzzle game made in Unity, inspired by Half Life and Portal. It is designed for players who enjoy physics-driven puzzle solving and environmental logic challenges. I worked purely as a game designer and focused on level structure, onboarding, pacing and the clarity of player-facing systems. The core tool is the Succ Cannon, a gun with two functions: sucking objects toward the player and shooting them away. The game also features fire and frost hazards that change orb keys into red or blue states, along with air vents that launch the player across gaps.
My work centred on communicating mechanics naturally through level design, without UI tutorials or text prompts. The game was designed for players familiar with indie Unity projects and first person puzzle conventions.
Core Gameplay Concept
Players solve puzzles using:
• The Succ function to pull objects toward them
• The Shoot function to launch objects
• Fire to convert orbs into red variants
• Frost to convert orbs into blue variants
• Air vents to launch the player
• Orb holders that toggle environmental states
The logic is readable, physics-based and encourages experimentation.
My Role
I was responsible for all game design work, including:
• Level layout and puzzle progression
• Mechanic onboarding
• Environmental readability
• Colour-based logic using fire and frost
• Mid-level pacing structure
• Playtesting and iteration
I did not contribute programming and collaborated closely with the programmer to ensure puzzles were functioning correctly and that I implemented them as they defined.
Level Design Breakdown
Level 1: Movement, Sucking And Shooting
Level 1 teaches every core mechanic through interaction. The player begins in a corridor blocked by a low gap filled with crates. To progress, they must experiment with the Succ Cannon, suck a crate toward them and shoot it aside. Requiring this twice reinforces that crates are meant to be moved, not collected.
After crawling through, the player encounters a firewall, a key orb and an orb holder. Placing the orb into the holder turns off the fire, teaching how orbs control environmental states.
The final door introduces colour logic. It needs one red orb and one blue orb. Shooting an orb through fire turns it red, and shooting it through frost turns it blue. Once the player discovers this, they complete the level with a full understanding of movement, crate manipulation, orb interactions and colour transformation.
Elemental obstacle
A wall of obstacles tumbling down
Pacing Across Five Levels
• All five levels follow a structure where:
• The front half reinforces known mechanics
• A new mechanic is introduced halfway through
The back half builds complexity with the new tool
This was inspired by television mid-season pacing, where a major change reinvigorates the narrative. In playtests, players responded well to this approach, often describing the mid-level unlocks as a rewarding moment that encouraged them to finish the level.
Mechanics introduced across the game include:
• Air vents
• Complex fire and frost routing
• Multi-stage orb transformations
• Puzzle sequences requiring chained interactions
Why This Shows My Design Strengths
Succ Cannon demonstrates my strengths in:
• Designing readable puzzles without text prompts
• Teaching mechanics through interaction and environment layout
• Structuring levels for engagement and clarity
• Balancing cognitive load across complex sequences
• Understanding the expectations of players who enjoy Unity-based puzzle games
• Pacing content in a way that reflects narrative design theory
The project shows my ability to design puzzles that communicate clearly and feel satisfying to solve.
What I Would Do Next Time
If I were to expand or revisit Succ Cannon, I would:
• Add more UI and audio cues for feedback
• Shorten levels slightly to reduce fatigue
• Increase the number of smaller, focused puzzles
• Improve colour state communication for orbs
• Reinforce player actions with clearer sound cues
These adjustments would help players understand outcomes more quickly and reduce confusion during later levels.
