Tiny Battlegrounds

Game Introduction

Tiny Battlegrounds is a sandboxed PvP game where the players play as tiny toy-size characters, picking up various objects around the environment and throw them toward other players to inflict damages. Each knockouts would give the player some EXP and they grow larger as they level up.

The Story

The inspiration of this game comes from a map in krunker.io where players find themselves in an enormous kids bedroom, which makes the them looks like toy soldier came to life. In addition to that, I wanted to have dynamic and emergent gameplay where they could grow larger, which would open up a new platforming option while closing some others. In addition to that, size is the strongest universal language of gratification^{[citation needed]}, and we want the players to feel it. As for the throwing mechanics, I wanted to invoke the forbidden chaotic feeling where you can just throw whatever stuff in your bedroom.

My Responsibities

Throughout the development cycle, I came up with the GDD, oversaw the development, and come up with various improvement to make it more fun and less frustrating.

Tuning the Prototype

Once the GDD is done, I communicate with the programmer, who is from Indonesia, on a regular basis. I made sure to convey my vision and requirement in a clear manner, and work with him to come up with a prototype. Soon after, we began to have a series of internal playtest to iron out some kinks. We also took some feedback from the stakeholders to make it more align with the current market trend.

Map Design

Then, I revamped the map. Belows are some key design goal when I was designing the map:

• At least 2 wider area that can sustain a medium skirmish with good amount of throwable objects around
• Plenty of highground around the perimeter to encourage exploring
• Narrow passage that low level characters can take advantage of for safe travel method
• Taller platforms that high level characters can leverage for faster travel
• Objects with stronger effect (eg: Holy Grenade) would be placed at location that require some skill to reach

Nonetheless, a cool level designer from TGS eventually took over the task and designed 3 even more awesome levels, and I was able to learn a lot more from his levels:

• Be more aggressive blocking out the level
• Consider character contrasts when deciding the color of the props
• Less big covers, more smaller covers, for a more chaotic fight
• More creative design of the map with puzzling shortcuts

IAPs, Retention, QoL Features

Afterward, I designed the monetization for the game and prepared contents for it. I’ve also designed the acquisition, engagement, retention and conversion mechanism for the game. This was an ongoing tuning even after the game was launched, while closely monitoring the metrics provided by Roblox Creator Hub.

Aside from that, I’ve also improved the gameplay based on feedback received, such as adding bots for the occasion where there wasn’t enough players within the server to properly facilitate a fun fight. I’ve also added taunting into the game, as I believe a controlled amount of “toxicity” can create some fun stories for players to talk about organically.