I created Train Manager: a Level Design Generator & Editor Project following the success of recent Object Escape themed Hyper-casuals.
Core gameplay: Tap a train, it departs along the direction its locomotive faces. It is blocked if any cell on the head's forward ray is occupied. A blocked tap costs a heart.
I extracted two primary design principles while breaking down these games:
i. A trap you can see is not a trap.
ii. Visual clutter breeds frustration & frustrations breed mistakes.
Level design on these games is a careful balance between these two schools of thought.
i. HARD TRAPS (Primary blocker)
Definition: Exactly one occupied cell on the head ray, cell distance is customisable. It is the primary fail-state creator.
Editable parameters:
1. trap density % (share of trains in this state, averaged across the solve)
2. trap depth % (blocker distance from the subject train)
ii. PERCEPTION TRAPS (Clutter, size and readability)
Definition: Two or more blockers on a train, plus the perceptual load of long lines and multiple direction breaks. Deliberately not a major trap source. Multiple blockers and multiple line breaks read clearly as risk. They cost reading time, not failures.
Editable parameters:
1. clutter cap % (likeliness of higher clutter created by multiple blockers, line length & heavy line breaks)
2. mean line length (likeliness for line lengths)
3. bend bias (likeliness for line breaks)
Other customization parameters help manually play around with every aspect of the board (grid shape, custom trains, generation rules etc.
