Icarus Initiative

Idea & introduction

A small, arcade-inspired game that I made for a university assignment. With the lessons from my previous Unity project, this one is more polished and a more enjoyable game. None of my focus went towards documentation or asset creation, which let me concentrate on the game mechanics and on deploying the game. A lot of my effort went into balancing the game and making it fair, yet challenging.

Technologies used

• Coded in Unity using C#
• Used built-in features to create the menus, adding code where necessary
• Art and sprites from Kenney assets and other sites
• Particle effects made within the Unity game engine
• The record score is kept using Unity’s built-in PlayerPrefs

Notable features

• Game over screen allowing replayability
• Automatically and randomly generated enemies/asteroids
• Sound effects throughout the game
• Responsive controls for movement and shooting
• High score is saved as a personal best/record
• Browser-based deployment of the game on itch.io

Conclusion

I kept my initial idea simple: an arcade-style game where asteroids spawn faster and faster as time goes on. This let me focus on polishing the game with particle effects, sound effects, a game over screen, a stored high score and an easter egg, making it feel like a more complete experience.

Files

The game files are available on GitHub, and the game can be played for free on itch.io.

There is also a Windows build, but the browser version made it redundant. The game is light, and much easier to play from a browser, even though it takes up less of the screen.