Video Game Art and Design had piqued my interest from a very young age. I viewed it as my gateway to bringing the fantasy worlds I dreamt of to life. The last two years of studying game art has taught me how to develop the artwork for a game working in tandem with the designers.
PETALS
Petals is a 2D auto runner while also being a zen game. These two genres are not usually combined in video games; Petals is an experiment in bringing together these genres.
(2D auto runner is a game where the character moves through the game at a preset pace and the player simply guides them through obstacles.
A zen game is a calming low stimulation game).
You play as a lotus petal, and you guide the petal through multiple sections of a temple filled with obstacles, that is located in a village which is currently in turmoil and must be saved with the power of the Goddess Padmaja. The lotus must follow a sacred path of lotus motifs, starting from the inner sanctum to the village exterior. This lotus petal is imbued with the power of the Goddess, and on reaching the village, the ending of the game is where the Goddess restores peace and stability to the village and its inhabitants.
The temple has murals and statues depicting the story of the Goddess Padmaja, the story of the village and how they intertwine and ultimately led to it's current destruction.
The lotus is a sign of goddess Padmaja and the petal is a symbol of her power and her presence, that is to be guided to the village that needs it desperately.
For this game, i took inspiration from multiple Indian temples primarily from South India to make a new temple with multiple sections, each of them feeling like a new environment.
These are the in-game screenshots of Petals, that show the journey of the lotus petal from level 1 to level 6, from the innermost sanctum to the village outside the temple. The images show the temple murals, statues, broken pillars and obstacles through the levels.
This is the level selection screen that is displayed when you play the game.
Main menu
Pause menu
These are the main artworks, that have been looped to create the levels in the game.
EGGSclency
Eggscelency is a 2D precision platformer.
( A platformer is a game where you have to navigate and Parkour your way between platforms to reach your destination. A precision platformer is a subgenre of platformers that focus on short but difficult levels with precise movements)
You play as an egg who must fulfill its destiny of becoming a great dish by reaching the frying pan. The game follows the egg as it descends through various platforms and dodges obstacles like knives and spatulas. The egg must also utilise surfaces of different materials to negate fall damage, while being careful not to break, or to purposely break when required.
This is the first game I've worked on where the concept idea was 100% mine. This game aims to be a quirky, cozy game in it's artstyle and visual while being challenging in it's mechanics. It takes place across multiple kitchens of different varieties and skill level.
The artstyle is lighthearted and comforting to contrast the difficult gameplay.
This is the poster designed for the first play test of the game. The game development is still in progress.
MARUSTHAL
Marusthal is a grid based puzzle board game made for the 2 players that takes place in a local desert village where the water supply is running low.
One player plays as Varaha, and must use and place various pipes(tiles) on the grid to connect the water source to the village. The other player plays as Hiranya and must use hidden traps and devices to sabotage Varaha and not let them capture the water source.
The art had to convey the story and show an arid playing field and a dry village with a contrasting water source. The tone had to convey seriousness but couldn't be too serious and grim that it became unplayable.
This was the very first game I worked on and has been my introduction to the process of making art for a game and the complexities of the game play, and expanding my ideation to factor in how multiple players would interact with the art while playing the game.
The artwork that was printed on the boards to create a game.
EyePoker & GridLock
Eyepoker and GridLock were both games made for an intensive week of a business simulation where the students had to act as independent businesses - game development companies, and in this week a batch mate and I combined our businesses to make these two games.
Eyepoker is a hypercasual funny game where you have to poke a moving face that gets angrier and angrier the more you do it.
The game relies on the high score mechanic for replayability and competition.
Grid Lock is a Tetris like Puzzle Game where you have to use wooden blocks to fill up a grid.
Both of these games were small, fun and casual as the entire game had to be completed in a short amount of time.
KAAL CHAKRA
Kaalchakra is a TTRPG
(Table Top Role Playing Game. TTRPGs are massive games that focus on world building and player interaction. The players get complete freedom to choose whatever they want to do. These games rely heavily on imagination, communication and improv and require multiple players. The most notable example is Dungeons and Dragons)
Kaalchakra is set in a fictional version of India and it is based on the British invasion of India. The players are part of the rebel party tasked to sneak onto a British supply train and gather information/resources. In the train they will eventually find the lieutenant of the British Army and an unfinished machine.
Defeating the lieutenant and choosing what to do with the machine decides the next act of the game.
There are multiple possibilities that could branch from the actions the players took. The main most common one was the future was set in a world where the players play as a rebel party but this time set in a dystopian world ruled by an empire.
The mission is very similar to the previous one but this time they have to investigate disappearance from their rebel party. The whole game leads up to the reveal that the people they were in the first act become the empire in the second act because they chose to keep the machine and utilise it. The other most common outcome was dying to the Lieutenant and then the future is set in an evolved advanced British empire and they have to complete the original mission.
This was the first time working on a TTRPG which is such a complex game. Aside from the base art I had to create grid maps, card assets and tokens. The story creation and the process of making it ironclad was truly the most difficult part.
The lieutenant Randall Lenwick is a barbaric officer who focus on melee combat, a warrior clad in armour who uses an Indian axe for his brutality as he believes killing Indians with their own weapon makes the victory that much sweeter.
The British officer is made to be a general template for the enemy NPC. The character is purposely made to look common and serve as a general enemy
The attack card layouts are the elemental attack cards that are assigned to each player depending on their element of choice
