Laser Dodge

Role

Designer

Genre

Casual Mobile Game

Tool

Unity

Development Time

4 weeks

Challenge your reaction times in this casual mobile game.

Highlights

Personal Project as solo developer
Created the scripts and Ui for the game
Made in Unity

The images and videos showcase gameplays recorded on my phone (android), or some early stages of the development.
All assets are free items found on itch.io or the Unity store.

Concept

A casual mobile game designed for instant accessibility and short play sessions, where players must dodge laser projectiles while surviving as long as possible.
Your score is your survival time. The longer you stay alive, the higher your score. No multipliers, no combos – just pure reflexes

Design Goal

The loop is simple and tight:

Dodge incoming laser projectiles
Survive to increase your score (time = points)
Difficulty increases over time (faster, more frequent lasers)
Fail → instantly restart

The instant restart is intentional. There are no menus, no "Are you sure?" prompts, no waiting. The moment you fail, you can try again.

This design encourages fast retries and continuous engagement. During informal tests, players attempted 4–6 runs per minute, with an average session length of 3 minutes. The "one more try" feeling appears naturally.

Core Mechanics

The game revolves around a single enemy: a machine that spawns on screen and fires projectiles toward the player.

To reduce randomness and increase pressure, the machine does not spawn randomly. Instead, it tends to appear near the player's current position. This forces quick reactions and keeps the player constantly engaged.

Before each attack, a visual warning cue appears. This improves readability, gives the player time to react, and maintains fairness – even when the difficulty is great.

An additional constraint is the platform itself. The player can fall off the edge, which introduces:

Spatial awareness
Risk management
A second way to fail (beyond being hit)

Difficulty Design

Difficulty scales over time through three variables:

Projectile speed
Projectile size
Spawn frequency

Phase transitions (e.g., from slow to fast) are tuned to:

Give the player enough preparation time
Reach engaging gameplay quickly

A difficulty cap is implemented to prevent the game from becoming unfair, ensuring long-term playability.

Design Decisions

1. Projectile Tuning
Speed and size were balanced to find the sweet spot between reaction time, challenge, and visual clarity.

2. Warning Animation
Added to reduce frustration, improve player anticipation, and support less experienced players.

3. Spawn Logic
Shifting from random to proximity-based spawning increased consistency, created intentional pressure, and improved overall fairness.

4. Platform Risk
Falling off adds a second failure condition. This increases tension, prevents passive play, and adds depth to movement decisions.

Random spawns felt unfair to players. By making the machine spawn near the player, I turned chaos into predictable pressure – which players found challenging but not frustrating.

The platform edge, initially a technical limitation, became a core part of the strategy. Players had to think about where to dodge, not just when.

UI & Visual Design

The UI is intentionally minimal. I chose this approach to:

Avoid distractions during fast gameplay
Maximize visibility of the action (lasers, player icon, warnings)

Every element is positioned to ensure visibility across different screen sizes and aspect ratios.
I tested the layout on Unity, which has the possibility to "emulate" different Android devices to confirm that no UI and Game element gets obstructed – even during continuous touch input.

Warning indicators are designed to:

Be immediately noticeable (high contrast, pulsing animation)
Naturally draw player attention without requiring reading
Support players with lower tracking ability (longer warning duration in Easy Mode)

No text is used. The warning is purely visual and universal.

The game is designed to create three emotional pillars:

Gradually increasing tension – players feel the pressure build as lasers speed up
Frequent "near-miss" moments – surviving by a small margin feels rewarding, not frustrating
A strong "just one more try" loop – fast restart and short sessions encourage repetition

Why minimal UI works for this game

In a game about reaction time and visual clarity, every extra pixel on screen is a potential distraction. By stripping away everything non-essential (no score pop-ups, no combo counters, no character stats), the player's focus stays exactly where it belongs: on the lasers and their character.

During informal tests, players consistently reported that the game "feels clean" and "doesn't get in its own way."

Highlights

Personal Project as solo developer
Created the scripts and Ui for the game
Made in Unity

The images and videos showcase gameplays recorded on my phone (android), or some early stages of the development.
All assets are free items found on itch.io or the Unity store.

Highlights

Personal Project as solo developer
Created the scripts and Ui for the game
Made in Unity

The images and videos showcase gameplays recorded on my phone (android), or some early stages of the development.
All assets are free items found on itch.io or the Unity store.

Core Mechanics

Laser System
A machine spawns on screen and fires projectiles toward the player
Adaptive Spawn Behavior
To reduce randomness and increase pressure, the machine tends to spawn near the player’s position, forcing quick reactions
Warning System
Each attack is preceded by a visual cue to:
- Improve readability
- Give players reaction time
- Maintain fairness
Player Constraint (Platform Fall)
The player can fall off the platform, introducing:
- Spatial awareness
- Additional risk management

Concept

A simple mobile game designed for instant accessibility and short play sessions, where players must dodge laser projectiles while surviving as long as possible.

Design Goal

The goal of the project was to create a game playable anytime, anywhere, from short waiting moments to longer focused sessions.

As a casual experience, the design focuses on:

Immediate readability
Low skill entry barrier
Scalable difficulty

Core Gameplay Loop

Dodge incoming laser projectiles
Survive to increase score
Difficulty increases over time
One life, if lost instantly restart

The loop is designed to encourage fast retries and continuous engagement

Difficulty Design

Difficulty scales over time through:

Projectile speed
Projectile size
Spawn frequency

Phase transitions are tuned to:

Provide enough preparation time
Quickly reach engaging gameplay

A difficulty cap is implemented to:

Prevent the game from becoming unfair
Maintain long-term playability

Design Decisions

Projectile Tuning
Speed and size were carefully adjusted to balance:
- Reaction time
- Challenge
- Visual clarity
Warning Animation
Introduced to:
- Reduce frustration
- Improve player anticipation
- Support less experienced players
Spawn Logic Adjustment
Shifting from random to proximity-based spawning:
- Increases consistency
- Creates intentional pressure
- Improves gameplay fairness
Platform Risk
Falling off adds a second failure condition:
- Increases tension
- Prevents passive play
- Adds depth to movement decisions

UI & Visual Design

UI is intentionally minimal to:

Avoid distractions
Maximize gameplay visibility

Element positioning ensures:
- Visibility across different screen sizes
- No obstruction, even during continuous touch input
Warning indicators are designed to:
- Be immediately noticeable
- Naturally draw player attention
- Support players with lower tracking ability

Player Experience Goals

The game is designed to create:

Gradually increasing tension
Frequent “near-miss” moments
A strong “just one more try” loop

Laser Dodge

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