Clarity beats complexity
Fewer, well‑telegraphed obstacles created a stronger challenge than visually noisy layouts.
Shipped Web Game
Street Dribble
A fast‑paced arcade football game designed for short, replayable sessions on the web. I led the gameplay and level design, focusing on readable challenges, difficulty pacing, and satisfying “one‑more‑try” loops.
Overview
Street Dribble challenges players to dribble a football through increasingly dense obstacle layouts. The core tension comes from speed and spacing: players must react quickly while still planning their path through cones, blockers, and moving hazards.
Design goals
What the experience needed to achieve.
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Instant readability
Ensure obstacles and safe paths are understandable at a glance, even at high speed.
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Smooth difficulty ramp
Gradually increase challenge density without sudden frustration spikes.
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Replay‑driven retention
Design levels to encourage repeated attempts and mastery.
My contribution
What I personally owned.
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Gameplay design
Defined the dribble mechanic, controls, speed curve, and fail conditions.
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Level design & pacing
Designed obstacle patterns and tuned spacing to balance challenge and fairness.
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Iteration & tuning
Refined difficulty and feel through repeated playtests and feedback loops.
Core loop
The moment‑to‑moment experience.
Loop
Start run → react to incoming obstacles → adjust position and timing → maintain control under speed pressure → fail or clear the section → restart quickly with improved knowledge.
Why it works
The loop rewards quick learning and pattern recognition. Failure is fast, readable, and immediately invites another attempt.
Key learnings
What this project reinforced.
Pacing is design
Small changes in spacing and speed dramatically affected difficulty and player confidence.
Fast restarts matter
Minimising downtime after failure kept engagement high and supported replay‑driven retention.