Scan-It Planet
Project Description
Scan real objects to solve creative platforming puzzles. Explore the galaxy as a little cosmonaut with the help of our high-tech scanner!
Timeline
Summer 2023 - Summer 2024
Responsibilities
UI Art, Visuals, Game Design, UX
Tools
Figma, Photoshop, Unity
Background
Basic Overview
Scan-It Planet is an asymmetrical co-op multiplayer experience - one player uses a controller to navigate, while other players move physical objects (or their limbs!) over the scanning area to create bridges over platforms. It's a perfect blend of chaos, teamwork, and puzzle solving in multiple realities!
Shown at Indiecade and Maker Faire OC.
On the Ground
Observations
It was inevitable - every event we went to, children (dragging along their parents) would swarm our booth. We figured out that our combination of friendly colors, simple platforming, and incredibly tactile puzzle solving caught their attention.
Once we found our target audience, I conducted playtests at events, noting both gameplay and physical issues. Designing for such a mixed age group - anywhere from kids to the elderly - meant that we had to keep things simple but engaging for all age groups and gaming experience levels.
one of our earliest builds!
Visuals
<CATCHY>
I had to keep visuals incredibly simple but catchy - the scanning mechanic was the star of the show, after all! I settled on a papercut art style that was eye-catching and approachable, as we wanted to attract a wide variety of players (some confessed that this was the first game they've played!) Scanned objects and platforms are very distinct from the background, and hazards communicate danger through their color and shapes.
As an exhibitor, we needed to onboard players quickly for them to get into the fun part ASAP. I made a short tutorial after noticing where players struggled - bombs in particular were confusing, as it required players to readjust their scanned objects to avoid them.
![[temp] tutorial.png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8514a3_03e646cae95f47cfb45e5ae306c08ef7~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_600,h_381,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/%5Btemp%5D%20tutorial.png)
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Construction
As someone who's primarily worked on digital experiences, I wasn't expecting to figure out how long the average arm is (to map out our total play area) or how to design an installation with setup and teardown in mind. We went through a couple iterations of enclosures, but landed on modifying a lightweight wire shelf that was easy to disassemble and open-air <????>.
We had to construct around our constraint of using computer vision for background segmentation (separating scanned objects from the background.
A heavy but sturdy first build (we measured once and cut twice)
Elements
Other
