Knit Together
About this game
In this puzzle game, the objective is to complete levels by getting yarn balls down to the knitting needles at the bottom of the screen. To do it so, players need to link and stack different colored buttons to clear the scenario and create a path for the falling balls.
What really stands out from my work on this title is the way the different gameplay items are implemented, and the way their synergies work: Stacks, buttons, locks, keys, yarn balls, breakable boxes, physics simulated ropes, chests… all of these game components can interact with each other, but are not strongly connected nor coupled. That means each item is independent, but their synergies allow for a very creative and deep level design.
Custom rope physics
Considering the theme of the game, I wanted to make sure there was some cohesion between the different mechanics and elements. Since the main items in the game are buttons which the players stack, I decided to represent the linking mechanic with a rope that created a knot on each selected button.
I wanted each strand of rope to hang between two moving buttons, affected by gravity. I also needed them to be wiggly so everytime a new button was selected the entire rope would ripple a bit.
I couldn’t simply use Unity3D’s physics system here as it would be too heavy on the performance of the project, as at times the player might create hundreds of strands at a time. That is why I created my own “fake physics” system for it, using simple maths to create a convincing effect.
