Arbor

The initial origin for CELL’s concept came from years of playing old-school arcade and console games.  Games like Gyruss and Bust a Move instilled fond memories in my childhood and I wanted to bring that energy into the overall design of CELL.  The biggest challenge to face for CELL’s development was merging the feel of the classic Arcade shooter with the tempo and gameplay of modern puzzle games, two distinctly different game genres.  The result is the hybrid that you see today.

During the nine weeks of development, which included one week of pre-production and 8 weeks of production, unforeseen challenges occurred as the overall game vision began to blur.  The design began leaning too heavily towards one genre or another.  As such, early development time was lost during this fuzzy front end, but the game took flight as we looked down the concepts we agreed upon, completing it successfully by the deadline.  In the end, working on CELL gave all of us on Team Jackal, a keen understanding of what it means to work together as a team.  It was our first project where we cut our teeth on each aspect of game development as seen in the industry today.

Haunted Mall Horrors is a 2D side-scrolling brawler made in the Torque Game Engine. The player takes control of Office Valiant, a mall cop, whose job is to ensure the mall is protected no matter what. Recently, a new Halloween shop moved into the mall where he works, and a mysterious evil has crept over his domain. A strange ectoplasmic mist permeates throughout the mall and is bringing merchandise to life. With flat screen TV’s and evil high heels now rampaging through the mall it is up to Officer Valiant to save the day and restore order to this small town shopping center.

Korium places the player in a puzzle-rich environment, and challenges their logic skills in light-hearted humorous ways.  The main character runs, jumps, and crawls through the levels, and pushes world objects.  The three levels feature increasingly difficult puzzles.

Boris Dubinikov, Assistant Janitor, is the only worker not killed or mutated by a nuclear meltdown.  He was busy sweeping floors in the nuclear waste disposal area when the blast occurred and now must escape from his former place of employment to return home to his loving wife and loyal dog.

Boris has no fighting ability. Enemies are eluded or lured into environmental hazards. Enemy types range from mutant vermin to and monstrous transformations of former co-workers. Boris must also avoid environmental dangers as his suit does not protect from toxic gases or acid rain.  If he falls into a gas cloud or contacts acid rain, he dies immediately.  Boris must keep moving to survive and escape.

Monster Munchies is a fun, fast paced, addictive, game that features an eating and growing mechanic.

The player controls an evolving creature that grows by eating smaller monsters while avoiding larger ones. The goal of the game is to grow and progress from a tiny monster living under a child’s bed to an enormous monster that eats galaxies. Though the game deals with monsters eating each other, Monster Munchies is very humorous and whimsical. The art reinforces the playful nature of the game with its cartoon /storybook style.

The storyline follows a small bean shaped creature named Hungr.  Hungr, after living a feeble existence at the bottom of the monster totem pole under a child’s bed (and being bullied by his sibling for being the runt of the litter), decides to take a stroll to contemplate the meaning of life.  When he comes to the edge of the bed he lifts his heavy eyes heavenward and discovers the ultimate inspiration: Godzilla, in poster form.  Being filled with insight, Hungr gobbles up the goons living under the bed with him and ventures forth into the world with a glint in his eye, intent on conquering the universe.

The environments of the game include a static background the player can move freely around, with the exception of minor obstacles. Hungr begins its adventure under a child’s bed. The environment is largely open (with a few pieces of trash strewn around) and has a lighthearted open mood.  
After conquering the area under the bed, Hungr seeks out larger prey in the general vicinity of the bedroom. The late night is beginning to give way to dawn, so the colors have lightened slightly, and a clear sky allows bright moonlight to illuminate the room.  
As Hungr continues to grow he will venture further out into the world, eating everything in his way. 

"Puppies in Spaaace!" is cute, playful, and deadly.
"Puppies in Spaaace!" is a brief but hilarious game featuring fast-paced first person action, puzzles, and comic mischief combine to create and immersive experience for all ages. The player controls our canine hero, Puddles, on his quest to defeat the evil Space kittens. Puddles must venture through a perilous space station filled with incorrigible kittens and villainous vacuums. "Puppies in Spaaace!" keeps players laughing with its wacky mechanics, and cuddly combat.

Cartoony meets mechanical in the cutest of space missions. Fluffy puppies and kittens combine with cold steel space stations and futuristic vacuums to keep the viewers and creators of the game entertained with a variety of styles.

Refraction is a puzzle game in which the player guides a beam of light to various  targets by using light-altering objects such as lenses, prisms, and mirrors. The goal of the game is to solve each puzzle using the light manipulation tools provided at the beginning of the level. The player has to place these objects on the play field and use them to guide the beam of light from the emitter to the targets. When each part of the puzzle is solved, it reveals (lights up) the landmarks that make up the level’s backdrop. 

Snellius, the game’s protagonist, is a fallen star. He crash-landed on to earth and used up much of his energy in the process. Snellius finds himself in a strange new place where everything is much too dark and even a bit scary. He must travel the world lighting up various landmarks, which will return to him his lost energy, allowing him to return to space at the end of the game.