Role

Game Designer

Developed With

Oatcake Interactive (University of Staffordshire)

Time Frame

August 2025 - October 2025

Genre

2.5D Side-Scroller

Software

Unreal Engine 5.6.1
GitHub
Trello
Miro
Google Docs
Figma
Microsoft Teams

WalKing the King

An Internship project with the University of Staffordshire in-house studio Oatcake Interactive. Set upon creating a new game based around the idea of a balancing mechanic, where the player (The Knight) carries a thrown which his majesty, King Eggward VIII sits upon. The Player has to traverse through levels with various obstacles without dropping his royal highness.

Currently Unavaliable

Summary of Constributions

UX/UI Design

Designed mid-fidelity wireframes in Figma for the Main Menu, Settings, Level Selection, and HUD (Heads Up Display).
Iterated upon each design after weekly meetings to keep in line with the game direction.

Gameplay Design

Conceptualised and designed visual diagrams for obstacles and traps to enhance the gameplay experience.
Iterated upon existing obstacles and traps.
Assisted the Programming Team with minor bug fixes in Unreal Engine using Blueprint.

Level Design

Mocked-up white boxes for the tutorial level.
Iterated upon the blockouts based on the outcome of the weekly team meetings.
Handed over levels to be set dressed by a member of the art team who specialised in environmental art.

UX Wireframes

When I came onto the project, I was tasked during the first few weeks to come up with the UX/UI for the game, as my UI implementation skills in Unreal Engine are still being expanded upon. A few of the technical designers who knew how to best optimise UI menus decided to do the implementation for me.

I created a few varieties for the UX/UI of the game to see which was preferred, and each iteration reflected a different idea for the narrative.

Game Design Diagrams

Using my game design skill set, I further went on to help come up with trap mechanics/gimmicks. Taking inspiration from some of the levels we planned and assets we discussed.

I pitched a variety of ideas:

Rope Bridge (Obstacle)
Rolling Barrels (Obstacle)
Cage Decent (Trap)
Statue (Trap)

Whilst I pitched some of the trap ideas, another designer and I contributed to creating diagrams for each other as well.

Level Design Blockouts

I also contributed to the project by taking the leap and going to a field that I'm not entirely confident in.

Assisting in blockout the first level of the game set within the Kings Castle, I was able to uncover areas that the gameplay technical designers didn't anticipate to have any issues.