Road Threader

Road Threader is a mobile racing/puzzle game. The player play as a mythical driver who wields power to control time. He/she can slow the time to smartly maneuver the vehicle and boost swiftly in traffic. The website of Road Threader goes here.

Road Threader originated from a game jam prototype and now evolved into a playable demo. The team consists of me and 4 more friends of mine who are all Northeastern Game Science and Design student. I am one of the game designer and the business person, which means I reached out to publishers to seek publication and support. Specifically in the team:

• I started the idea of time-stop driving.
• I drafted the game story.
• I designed some of the levels and obstacle spawn patterns.
• I designed monetization model.
• I reached out to some publishers.
• Also I assisted in some other works.

Now Road Threader is still under development. If you want a demo, you can contact our team by team@roadthreader.com and we will send you a link to the demo (currently Android only).

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Mindroom

Screenshot of Mindroom’s hand menu

Mindroom is a virtual reality (VR) workplace. The basic idea is that users can fully utilize the 3D space in VR system to work with their computer files. In Mindroom, users can:

• Interact with files in a virtual space
• Customize virtual rooms to store different files
• Preview and move files freely in the virtual space
• Work seamlessly between PC and VR

Today’s VR systems are more like gaming consoles or interactive video players than comprehensive, next-generation human computer interaction device. It might because of the high entry bar of owning a VR headset, the lack of general-purpose work applications, the inability to move bodies in workspace, etc. Another problem is that most of the today’s workflow relies on desktop systems and their peripherals. Thus, people can hardly work effectively without traditional computers.

Add a new drawer set in the environment

Mindroom wants to inspire the audience that VR headsets can serve as high efficiency HCI medium for productivity, without losing the access to traditional workflow. By directly working with the same files of computer, Mindroom users can switch quickly between VR and desktop environment and take advantages from both of them. Also, by extending the screen space from a 2D display with limited area, Mindroom can provide infinite, 3D space where users can work with their files, thanks to the VR technology.

View and store a file in Mindroom

In the latest version, Mindroom users can import, grab, preview, store, delete files of the most popular formats, like doc, jpg, ppt, pdf-s. They can grab and browse through files, and store them in different storage, like drawers. With the benefit of Method of Loci, which means to associate memory with locations, users can even remember where their files are in Mindroom better than on desktop systems.

Mindroom also serves as my graduate thesis project. For thesis full text, you can download it here.

Mindroom Thesis Full TextDownload

Curfew

What is the game about?

Curfew is a stealth game that the player manipulates with light. In the setting of WWII, the player play as a Polish spy to retrieve an important archive of underground resistance against Nazi. Nazi announced that no one could go on street after twilight. Therefore the rainy dark night with power outage is perfect chance to sneak in the base and get the archive.

The player needs to:

• Get the archive from Nazi base and retreat in a complete dark environment
• Hide from guards’ sights – they wield flashlights and seek unexpected lights
• Take advantage of lightning to temporarily illuminate your path
• Create misguiding lights to attract guards from their positions

The game is still under development and half-baked. The demo above does not show all features in the game.

What did I do in the project?

I designed the gameplay game, especially the aesthetic “manipulate with light” and the mechanics to achieve it. Two of my friends took care of the coding part.

The brief designing document I drafted is HERE (in Chinese because all teammates communicate in Chinese).

Curfew

What is the game about?

Curfew is a stealth game that the player manipulates with light. In the setting of WWII, the player play as a Polish spy to retrieve an important archive of underground resistance against Nazi. Nazi announced that no one could go on street after twilight. Therefore the rainy dark night with power outage is perfect chance to sneak in the base and get the archive.

The player needs to:

• Get the archive from Nazi base and retreat in a complete dark environment
• Hide from guards’ sights – they wield flashlights and seek unexpected lights
• Take advantage of lightning to temporarily illuminate your path
• Create misguiding lights to attract guards from their positions

The game is still under development and half-baked. The demo above does not show all features in the game.

What did I do in the project?

I designed the gameplay of the game, especially the aesthetic “manipulate with light” and the mechanics to achieve it. Two of my friends took care of the coding part.

The brief designing document I drafted is HERE (in Chinese, because all teammates communicate in Chinese).

Other contributors

Thanks to Rayming Wang and his team for inspirations and some fundamental building blocks of Unity project.

Catering

What the game is about?

Catering is a restaurant-running simulation board game I designed with some of my classmates. Players play as holders of restaurants, and generally cares about:

• Where to open new restaurants
• How many raw materials to purchase
• What dishes to serve
• What strategies to use to compete in the market
• How to beat competitors in the region

The goal of the game is to earn certain amount of money before others, or each type of restaurants has its unique winning condition.

Complete rules and more details about Catering is at HERE.

What did I do in the project?

I came up with the idea of the game and took care of the overall gameplay design. I designed most of the:

• General gameplay and revenue system
• Recipes
• Abilities of restaurants
• Random events (environment card)
• And a lot more minor work throughout the designing process

I learned and enjoyed much in this project and collaborated with my teammates very well. Now we were thinking of fine-building it with artwork and publish into commercial version.