Up the Stairs
Up The Stairs is a short mobile-game experience where a recluse man ascending his apartment meets ghosts along the way.
As you ascend the stairs, each floor features a ghost with 3 possible narrative choices, controllable via a unique 3-pronged D-Pad designed to only allow you to move left, right, and up.
Working as the sole programmer, I integrated my partner’s 2D art assets and sprites while scripting gameplay and mechanics.
Gameplay
Players use the 3-pronged D-pad to move around each floor, ascend stairs, and explore 3 choices of dialogue.
By the end, players realize they are meant to join the ghosts they have interacted with, facing a final narrative choice.
Interactivity
Each ghost is programmed to run through its own dialogue and show unique responses based on what players select.
Ghosts are able to feel negativity or positivity from the player’s choices which is visually reflected in their color.
Simple dialogue system reflects empathetic, neutral, or negative responses for each ghost’s questions.
Tweeners
Part of the learning experience for this project was understanding how Tweeners worked.
In using an external DO Tween class from demigiant.com, I was able to apply the interpolation for simple button interactions and feedback.
Narrative
Meet other deceased apartment goers until you face a final decision to join the spirits.
My co-developer produced various dialogues, narratives, and backstories to add a layer of worldbuilding.
Overall, in programming and designing this project, I used mechanics, gameplay, and creative direction to elevate narrative.