Hide & Shrooms

Hide and Shrooms

Concept:

"Hide and Shrooms" is a whimsical adventure game where players embody a tiny, mushroom-like fairy creature living in a forest. Inspired by the enchanting world of "Arrietty," players navigate the forest to collect berries while evading predators. The game blends elements of hide-and-seek with collection tasks, offering an engaging and strategic experience.

Main Features

Hide and Seek Gameplay:

The core mechanic revolves around evading predators like humans who mistake the player for a delicious mushroom. Players must utilize their surroundings to hide and avoid detection, making each moment an exhilarating and fast-paced challenge.

Berry Collection:

Players are tasked with gathering berries scattered throughout the forest. Successfully collecting all berries completes the game, while being caught results in a restart.

Hand-Crafted Map Design:

The game world of "Hide and Shrooms" is designed to provide a unique experience. Each level is crafted with attention to detail, ensuring a visually appealing and challenging environment for players. The manual design process allows for creative layouts that enhance the overall gameplay experience.

Isometric Visuals:

To create a unique visual style, "Hide and Shrooms" uses isometric graphics. Converting Cartesian coordinates to isometric ones was a significant technical challenge, overcome to provide an aesthetically pleasing game world.

Basic Player Detection and Pathfinding:

The game uses basic player detection and pathfinding to control how predators behave. While simple, these mechanics add challenge by requiring players to skillfully avoid enemies and stay hidden.

Objectives

Enhance Technical Skills:

"Hide and Shrooms" re-engaged me with C# and SFML, tackling complex problems like isometric coordinate conversion and efficient game environment rendering, thereby strengthening technical capabilities.

Provide Enjoyable Gameplay:

The game combines quick-thinking strategy with adventure, delivering an exciting and suspenseful experience. Positive feedback from testers underscores the success of its captivating gameplay.

Expand Game Development Knowledge:

Creating "Hide and Shrooms" involved mastering player detection and converting coordinates to isometric views, deepening my grasp of game development fundamentals and offering insights into crafting immersive experiences.

How It Works

Starting the Game:

Players begin in a vibrant forest, tasked with collecting a predetermined number of berries. The forest is filled with potential threats, and players must navigate carefully to avoid detection.

Evading Predators:

Humans are constantly on the lookout for what they perceive as a tasty mushroom. Players must use natural cover and strategic movement to stay out of sight, adding tension and excitement to the gameplay.

Collecting Berries:

Scattered throughout the forest are berries that players must collect. The game is won by gathering all the berries. Each successful collection brings players closer to victory, while each near miss heightens the suspense.

Conclusion

"Hide and Shrooms" is an exciting mix of quick strategy and adventure, set in a charming forest setting. It offers a unique gameplay challenge where players must balance collecting berries with hiding and avoiding enemies. The development journey improved technical skills and allowed for creative expression. Whether you're new to gaming or experienced, "Hide and Shrooms" promises a fun and engaging adventure, showing that even the smallest creatures can have epic journeys.