Please tap on a game icon to view some of the work I've completed

                             

The Game

For me, Griddler was a project of passion. I love playing nonogram style puzzles and have played a lot of the mobile versions of them to completion. This got me thinking, what if I could make. version of the game that was endless, allowing players to play it forever with new, different puzzles all the time. This was what got me to begin the development of Griddler. With this being my own project I could take my time adding the polish I wanted, so I aimed for the following targets:

• Polish the game to a professional standard, don't make it look indie
• Make the game best in classic with regards to gameplay feedback. Lots of these types of games have really clunky interfaces, so I spent a lot of time trying new methods until it felt intuitive
• Make it a great user experience, from booting the game up and seeing our bespoke splash screen, to entering levels, being offered rewarded ads, seeing the results screen, reaching a new rank / level. Everything had to feel really good
• Make it endless. The game had to satisfy my itch to play game after game without running out or repeating levels.

The way to complete levels in Griddler is to fill in the correct tiles in the given grid based on the numerical clues around the edges. If one column has 3-1-4 then it means there is a block of 3, then a block of 1, then a block of 4, within this column. As long as you fill the correct ones in you'll soon complete the level.

Generally, nonogram puzzles are designed to fill in the grid and complete an image, which will then be revealed at the end. For example, you might fill in a 10x10 puzzle and once complete, you will have drawn a pixelated teapot. While this is a fun element of the game, this was sacrificed in Griddler in order to make the levels procedural and therefore endless.

My Work

I started creating Griddler without doing much research at all as I initially had no intention of releasing it officially, it was a game made for me to be able to play endless nonograms. Up to this point I'd released 3 iOS games using an old program called DragonFireSDK, which allowed me to create the very simplistic games without needing a strong understanding of code. I also worked on some games in my full time job where I got stuck in to the code a bit more and learned how to create basic functions. In my previous job I created a couple of prototypes in Unity with the guidance of a programmer, helping me structure the code correctly and make the games work. Griddler, however, was my biggest challenge.

I decided rather than spend lots of time learning how to code, I'd just get stuck in and find help whenever I got stuck, which proved to be a good approach as I quickly understood the basics and created the core gameplay. Once this was done I was fortunate enough to have an extremely talented friend, also in the games industry, who was keen to help me with the art and audio, giving that quality level I was aiming for. It was only at this point I saw it as a realistic dream that we could release it officially. Due to the approach of making it for myself, I'd not been too bothered about structuring it to monetise or retain players, it was more a bit of fun for people to dip in and out as they wanted. The game would allow you to play unlimited 5x5 and 6x6 grids with an add after every other game, with the option to spend £2.99 to unlock grid sizes 6-10, and occasional rewarded ads to play higher levels if you hadn't made the purchase. The majority of my tasks in reaching hard launch were:

• Creating the core loop with results screen and flow
• Figuring how to create the cool animation when you press a tile in game, giving the impression you're pushing into the screen
• Setting up the iAP, adverts and local notifications
• Creating a dynamic difficulty system that would change the difficulty of the levels based on how quickly the player is completing them
• Structuring the scenes so the bulk of loading is done during the WHG splash screen
• Applying UX methodologies to ensure it was clear to the player where everything was and how to use it
• Anchoring UI for use across multiple screen ratios, for the best and most polished experience
• Understanding some basics of marketing in order to get an audience

Having reached the quality bar we were aiming for and had some success in our soft launch, we hard launched and were fortunate to get an Apple Feature in their "New Games We Love" section, boosting our installs up by 55k in the first 2 weeks. The game generally performed well with players rating it highly (after some initial poor reviews when players didn't know the levels were procedural and though the game was just 2 single levels and that's it!), watching ads and often purchasing the Full Game iAP.

Once the installs began to dwindle I wanted to add more for the players who had made it what it is, so we did 2 major updates. The first one was for localisation, where we add 9 languages based on research into which ones were the most necessary. The second was to add 2 new game modes to go with the initial Ranked mode (where the player is timed to complete the grid, earning more stars for a faster time. The 2 new game modes were a Timed mode that challenged players to complete as many of one type of grid size as they could within a given time, and then a Chilled mode, where the player was able to complete back to back levels without being timed or returning to the main menu, just one after the other endlessly. I'm proud of where it's got to and hope for more in the future, which leads me onto the next section...

Next Steps

Work is still ongoing on Griddler with plans to release a huge update early next year. The aim of the update is to give the player more to do, more reason to return, and more ways to spend money, as well as making the game more marketable, by adding the following features:

• A lovable character to guide the player throughout their play sessions
• hundreds (or thousands) of levels for the player to complete, that are designed to show an image. at the end and give the player a journey to progress through
• A Token cost to enter levels, giving the player something to collect and earn to play
• Daily rewards, encouraging retention
• A Store with lots of offers and purchasables, including a starter bundle to improve early monetisation
• Links to social media to grow our fanbase
• iOS Stickers of our character and game, to have more ways to share and discuss the game

The update is a big one, especially when it's only you working through all the tasks on top of having a demanding full time job, but I enjoy it as a hobby and hope that one day it will provide an income.