W.R.A.X. is the second game I designed for the Supernating Superdudes. It is an action-puzzle game that combines elements of the currently popular web game Collapse! and the old Atari arcade game Tempest.

When deciding which games to create for Superdudes, I looked at what games were popular on other sites. One popular style of game involves clearing groups of similar pieces. The mockup below explored what such a game might look with a Superdudes theme.

I then tried arranging the pieces in formations other than the traditional grid. The pentagon sketch below gave me the idea of adding gravity to the game, with the pieces pushing towards the center.

A more detailed sketch using Superdudes Katras (colored tokens) looked promising, but also revealed some problems. With the pieces all the same size, there was no feeling of gravity or perspective. I was also concerned that with this layout there was not enough room to include enough pieces to make the game challenging!

I then came up with the idea of making the Katras close to the center appear small and those on the edge of the playing field appear largest, to give the game the correct perspective. This led to another problem, however, since the Katras at the center appeared very tiny and were hard to make out.

The solution came in the form of different "zoom levels" or levels of magnification. The game starts on zoom level one, with the pieces large and easy to see.

As the player advances in the game, he quickly reaches zoom levels two and three, with the pieces towards the center getting smaller and smaller. The game automatically zooms the perspective in and out based on how many pieces the player has cleared.

The game Collapse! from GameHouse which I used as one of many references for W.R.A.X. is a straighforward puzzle that looks a lot like Tetris. As the player successfully removes groups of blocks, the remaining blocks fall downwards.

Poppit! from Pogo uses the same mechanic, only the balloons float upward to fill in gaps.

Both games are based on the classic arcade game Puzzle Bobble, where players shoot colored spheres from a cannon aimed by a cute little dragon.

The lack of any hand-eye coordination in Collapse! and Poppit! makes those games more appealing to a certain segment of casual gamers. The mechanics of W.R.A.X. are a bit harder to master, but the game has resonated well with the Superdudes audience.

W.R.A.X. Credits

Flash Programmer: Glen Rhodes Producer for Superdudes: Tom Jacobson Producer for SayDesign: John Say Game Art: Glen Rhodes Sound and Music: Glen Rhodes

©2002 Tom Jacobson. All rights reserved.