Roomba Rumble

Gameplay video of Roomba Rumble.

Description

Roomba Rumble is a real-time puzzle game in which the player controls a RC Roomba and attempts to clean their room, but there is a delay between the player's inputs and the Roomba receiving and acting on them.

This project was initially a week-long prototype for USC's Video Game Prototyping course, in which each week, random pairs are assigned to create a prototype with different and cumulative design requirements. This week's focus was on discrete and continuous input and feedback.

The project went on to be one of the six chosen to continue further development for the remainder of the semester. A polished demo was recently submitted to IndieCade, and is available to play here: https://daniel8a.itch.io/roomba-rumble

My Role as Co-Creator/Designer

  • Created the initial design of the game that fulfilled our chosen prompt of continuous input, discrete feedback.
  • Developed and implemented the main input and resource system.
  • Playtested, iterated, and tuned the game's mechanics to deliver increased laughter in a lighthearted, comedic game.
  • Presented the game to leading school faculty and industry designers.

Design Examples

Mobirise

Look at how close the turns were!

Continuous Input, Discrete Feedback

This was our prompt for the week's assignment. From the start, I knew I wanted to make a game in which the player "doing nothing" was very much a form of input. This led me to start thinking about steering versus truly controlling, and I eventually came up with the concept for trying to steer a malfunctioning Roomba.

The slideshow cutscene at the start was meant to contextualize the game's input delay as a result of rushed handiwork, and was the central element of humor for the game. Seeing your inputs travel across the screen from your controls (represented by a controller icon) to the Roomba provides a great deal of tension as you wonder 
if you will be able to make a turn in time, as well as equally strong relief when the player executes even comparatively simple maneuvers.

Mobirise

The Battery: A helpful pickup that complicates the board.

Resource System

We felt that the game's timer being the Roomba's battery life would be a clear, clever way to communicate to the player how long they have to clean their room. To provide the game with more depth and decision-making while still being clear to the player and thematically consistent, I designed a battery pickup.

The battery would be an item on the ground that if the player scooped up with their Roomba, it would recharge the player's battery, and refresh their timer. I felt that this item provided a good amount of depth to the gameplay that, paired with the unique design of each level, amounted to interesting decision-making from the player. The player could try and wait until they were almost out of charge to pick up the batteries, but risk missing a turn and running out of time. Additionally, the difficult controls meant that if a player wanted to wait on picking up the battery, they would probably avoid that area altogether until they wanted to try and acquire the battery.

Players having to decide between when to take the batteries, as well as how much cleaning they should try and do around the batteries before picking them up, provided welcome depth to the gameplay, while still remaining 

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