Level Design: The Grove

Working alongside Dylan Wilcox to co-create the Grove and the Mantle, I spent an extensive amount of effort to bring the Grove to life. I was responsible for implementing core interactive elements for the level, such as our movable minecart system and the light crystals, which help the player clear bramble and navigate the Grove.

Systems: The Belly Bash & Sulfric

Early into the project, I developed the Belly Bash mechanic. This was the first of Joe's belly-related moves to get implemented! Concepted with the idea of having Joe throw himself belly-first into enemies, it allowed us to utilize his rotund stature in interesting ways, which, when combined with the digging mechanic, allows for all sorts of traversal and attacks.

This mechanic is especially perfect for bashing our enemies, including Sulfric, who is an explosive enemy introduced in the Grove. With this attack, the players can bash Sulfric into our other enemies, exploding and sending them in varying directions!

Sound Design & VO

I created the sound effects for a majority of the game! A few of these sounds include the iconic and incredibly satisfying Gembit pickup sound. In addition to sound design, I also provided the official character Voice Over for Joe Miner, Coalbert, and Ironson, bringing our stylized cast of characters to life!

Narrative

To create our rocky adventure, I created and iterated on the narrative of Pick Some Axe, ensuring that the story is fun and welcoming for all players to enjoy! Originally when we concepted the game, Joe would be saving his wife Esmerelda, but over time we realized we wanted Esmerelda to better reflect Joe in stature, and wanted to stay away from the typical Damsel in Distress trope, and thus Jasper was born!