Rocket Jump : A 2D infinite jumper for personal exploration of game development

Abstract

Gaming is quickly becoming one of the most popular hobbies in the world. In 2022 a study found that over 3 billion people play some form of video games regularly (“Gamer Demographics”). That number will likely only grow as access to computers continues to rise globally. As a hobby, gaming is incredibly versatile. You can play alone or with friends, casually or competitively. You can play on a PC, a console, or your smartphone. Because of this variety, there is a niche for almost every type of game you can imagine. Games range between highly complex, visually stunning games in 3D, to simple mobile games in 2D that a college student could throw together. The niche I intend to occupy with Rocket Jump is a casual, almost thoughtless time-passer for people to play on their phones or personal computers. I personally have a great fondness for games that require just enough thought power to keep me focused, but avoid any sort of mental strain or physical precision. These types of games are quite common on mobile devices. Throughout my childhood, various games like these would explode in popularity at my school. Notable examples include Subway Surfers, Flappy Bird, Angry Birds, Candy Crush, and, my personal favorite, Doodle Jump. These games are simple enough that a child could pick them up and understand how to play them within a few minutes, yet entertaining enough that you could waste an hour or two playing them during a boring car ride or a break between classes. Over the summer I created a game heavily inspired by Doodle Jump, but with my personal spin on the graphics and gameplay tweaked to be compatible with a keyboard as well as a touch screen. This paper will explore my experience creating this game from concepts to scripting to 1 implementation. I will take you through each step of the design process while sharing my experience working as a solo video game developer.