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Project Origin - Developed at King
Role - Game & Level Designer
Genre - Match 3 / Puzzle
Period - March 2017 - March 2021
DESIGN GOALS:
Create features and levels for both early-and-end-of-content players with appropriate challenge.
Interesting and unconventional level design which follows my design principals for a unique experience.
Contribute with concepts and design to improve the game.
PERSONAL GOAL:
Maintaining a high level of quality and quantity on a weekly basis.
INTRODUCTION
During my four-year tenure at King, I delved into the iconic “Candy Crush Saga”. Initially tasked with crafting levels, I progressed to refining gameplay mechanics to game-wide engagement/retention projects, using data-driven design and insights to enhance player experiences. Amidst these endeavors, my proudest achievement emerged: the conceptualization and leading the design of the Sour Skull blocker, a cornerstone addition to the Candy Crush Saga universe. These experiences have not only shaped my career but also instilled a deep passion for crafting immersive gaming experiences that resonate with players worldwide.
Overview of my tasks and accomplishments
Designed levels for Candy Crush Saga.
Designed and co-designed gameplay elements, such as the Sour Skull.
Mentored interns and junior designers, ensuring they were up-to-date with best design practices and ways of working.
Managed documentation of past and new projects.
Analyzed live player data to tweak levels and optimize the use of certain gameplay features.
Hypothesized and led a project to remove certain features from the game, resulting in a positive uplift in engagement, retention and income.
Reworked our approach to level-design for a better understanding of our features and their uses.
Prepared and delivered presentations for a craft-level audience.
Led projects to design a tools that increased level production by approximately 87%.
Planned, set up, and led numerous workshops to improve and encourage the Level Design Team to learn and share knowledge about the craft.
Held a presentation and live demonstration for our player community about the craft and the process of making levels in Candy Crush Saga.
Game Design Work
In this chapter, I'll dive into my game design work, specifically the Sour Skull blocker. I'll break down its functionality, showcase its uses within the game, and explain how it came to be. This is to showcase and share insights into the creative process, additionally, I'll reveal how it was designed to address specific gaps and needs in the level design toolkit, enriching the gameplay experience.
The Sour Skull
The Sour Skull was the first gameplay Feature where had the role as Lead Designer. Debuting on Level 8031 alongside three tutorial levels, it quickly became a favorite challenge for players and a preferred tool for the Candy Crush Saga Level Design Team.
My objective was not only to introduce an engaging new gameplay element but also to address potential gaps in Candy Crush level design toolkit, enriching the overall player experience
Sour Skulls first apperance, as a Tutotial pop-up.
Core Concept
The Sour Skull consists of two components: the purple Pedestal Locks and the titular Sour Skull.
Properties of the Pedestal include its indestructible nature and a size of 1x1. Multiple instances of Pedestals can exist on the board simultaneously, while only one Sour Skull can be present at a time.
When damaged by adjacent matches or special effects, the Sour Skull disappears until the start of the next player turn. It then reappears on a different Pedestal with reduced Health Points.
Once the player hits the Sour Skull five times, resulting in its travel across five different Pedestals, the Skull is destroyed along with all associated Pedestals.
The design vision behind the Sour Skull was to introduce a clear sub-goal within levels. While the main objective of levels typically involves collecting Ingredients or jelly, the Sour Skull adds an additional layer of strategy. The Pedestals can be strategically used to block off major parts of the board, aligning with the 3-Act Structure often utilized in level design, which will be discussed further in the Level Design chapter.
5 Layers
4 Layers
3 Layers
2 Layers
1 Layer
Empty Pedestal
iteration & Moodboard
Inspiration for the Metaphor of the Sour Skull
A skull displayed on a Pedestal, to show its significance.
Skulls being depicted as “Cursed” or “Magical”
When conceptualizing a new feature with tangible form, my approach centers on Functionality & Metaphors. This involves either:
Outlining feature specifications and then applying a metaphor that aligns with the game's theme.
Drawing visual inspiration from the existing game world and integrating specifications and functionality accordingly.
For the creation of the Sour Skull, I opted for the ladder approach. I sought inspiration from various candies within the game universe and then imbued them with specific functionalities.
My primary source of inspiration was Skull candies. Analyzing their portrayal in media, I discovered:
Skulls often possess magical attributes, enabling them to fly and teleport.
They exude a distinct "character" or personality.
Skulls are sometimes depicted atop pedestals.
With these insights in mind, I honed in on the design specifications. Guided by the themes of "magic," "character," and "pedestals," I began translating these elements into a feature suitable for Candy Crush Saga.
My aim was to make the Sour Skull the focal point of its own functionality, ensuring that only one Skull would be present on the board. Drawing from its magical essence, I envisioned it resting atop a pedestal, with the ability to teleport between pedestals. After numerous iterations, I solidified the core concepts and meticulously designed the finer details of the Sour Skull. The key design milestones that emerged from these concepts were:
The presence of only one Sour Skull on the board.
Its placement on a pedestal.
The ability to move and teleport.
Infusing a sense of novelty and uniqueness.
Addressing gaps in Candy Crush level design.
Ensuring the Sour Skull wouldn't overshadow other features.
Incorporating Candy Crush's distinctive aesthetic.
With the initial concept in place, I proceeded to create storyboards and concept art to visually present my design. Accompanied by a brief flowchart outlining its functionalities, these visuals formed the basis of my pitch. During presentations, I anticipated potential questions, addressed challenges, and highlighted considerations such as the need for testing hit-point counts. The culmination of this process was the creation of the Sour Skull feature.
Level 8056, shows how the Skull traverses in a set parth to create a structural progression in the level. Also, how its properties as a Lock with Licorice Swirls can crete a more focused an non-brekable level.
Presents the Sour Skull and 2 Pedestal. Objective is to Destroy it. Teaches that the Skull can take Damage, can teleport and the Pedestals are destroyed with the Skull.
More Pedestals are in use. Teaches that the Skull can take Special Effect damage. Also presents the Lock functionality of the Pedestals.
Last tutorial level. More Pedestals then the Sour Skulls health points can be present. Showcases that any other features properties are active underneath it, in this case, Licorice Swirls under Pedestals will block special effects.
Level Design Work
general Design philosophy
Whenever I designed a level, there are of course core things you have to think about.
If the Level has the appropriate challenge for the progression?
If the Level is paced and balanced well?
Is the Level created in such a way that it is easily tweakable, if it were to be too easy/hard?
Is the Level engaging/fun?
These were a few of the questions I always asked and reviewed whenever I was designing a Level. To help me, a base design guide I used was the 3-Act structure principle.
The 3-Act structure is mostly prominent in narratives, such as movies and books. How the respective tales have a beginning, middle and an end. I used this philosophy when creating a level, which made it easier for me to pace it, balance it and find which points should have calmer moments, to more challenging but finally rewarding sections.
I mapped out what Elements in Candy Crush Saga would best suit each Act.
Example of how which elements I would use in which act of a Level.
Act 1 - Introduction: The player has an area to play around and understand the progression while light progresses through the level.
Act 2 - The core challenge/moment of the level is introduced and the challenge starts to ramp up.
Act 3 - The challenge might peek put the player should be rewarded that will help with the ultimate goal of the level.
Design Process
With a 3-Act structure in place, I then need to find the gimmick and/or goal with a level. I do this by trying to cross reference which candies and blockers work well together. For Example.
Explosion of a Frog + Bubble Pop = Are of Effect from the frog hits the Bobble Bob, which casues a chain of effect.
With a gimmick like this, I then try to find where it would fit in the 3 Act-Structure. The example above sounds to me like the beginning of Act 3. I would then prototype the level, usually working from the end to the beginning, which would in end look something like this:
Act 1 - Dig through the level to get to the Frog. (Final touches I add when I'm basically done)
Act 2 - Free/unlock the Frog to the be able to feed it (Core gameplay, I add the bulk of the challenge here)
Act 3 - Launch the Frog onto a previously unreachable area with the Bubble Pop, which causes a visual spectacle, as they sequentially explode, unlocking the final part of the board where the player reaches/work on the final goal. (The part I start my level design process is, as the finale is usually what dictates the rest of the design)
By feeding the Frog Candies, the Player can click on it and lauch it to any playable space.
The Bubble Pop is a 5 Layer Blocker. Once destroyed, it causes a 3x3 explosion.
Fun fact. My levels did get some special appreisal/attention in the multiple King studios, as any levels with a hidden ( or overt ) puzzle that the player needs to solve were called “Bräysy Levels” internally. I became the to-go-guy whenever someone needed any help or inspiration for more creative level making.
In the roughly 500 levels that I made in Candy Crush Saga, here are a few examples of how I designed a few of mine.
HIGH-LEVEL DESIGN PRESENTATIONS
Level 4829 - Puzzles
One of my personal favourites and a Level that really defined what my level design philosophy is about. My main inspiration for making levels like these are Rube Goldberg machines, how one part of the whole machine will affect the next, like the Domino Effect, which I hope is well presented below.
The level is a Jelly/Ingredient Game mode and what I like to call a Puzzle level. What I define a “puzzle” is that a certain required move has to be made by the player to progress in some way. This one was of the first I made and became a blueprint of how I made Levels, especially the puzzle variety.
Act 1 - The Level starts in a rather cramped corner. The level is designed in such a way that at this stage of play (A1), no action can be performed or affected outside of this smaller part. This is done with the Sugar Chest + Licorice Swirl combo that blocks any special effects, such as Candy Stripes. The only progress the player can work on is the key (A2), that in turn will open up the chest (A3) just above it. This will release Vertical striped candies that are just in the same column as the Frosting blocker outside of the cramped area (A4).
Act 2 - Hitting this Blocker will eventually let the Cherries on the Conveyor Belt gradually transport to the bottom left side of the stage, creating a staircase (B1). As a side note, destroying the first Key will also open up the chest in the top right corner, which releases some Pepper Candies (B2). This is to not have any unnecessary down time, having the player a bit on edge, as it takes a few turns for the staircase to be constructed. The last cherry will be able to move to the Yellow set of Candies and Keys in the bottom right corner (B3 -> B4). This is where the puzzle mechanic comes into play. The required move of swapping the position of the Cherry and rightmost Key that will in turn Collect the Cherry for the overall progression, but also open the top left area of the map.
Act 3 - As the last area is now unlocked, a bit more pressure is added to the player while they collect the remaining jelly (B5). This is made by having more Pepper Candies spawn, but also some Wrapped candies for a bit of relief and explosive finale.
Other Puzzle Level Examples of mine that follow the same structure.
The player has to unlock the coconut wheels, that in turn lower the yellow candies so they in
turn will feed the frog. The frog is finally used to collect the Orders.
A multistep puzzle level. The level loops on itself, as you first need to be aware of the first match the will destroy the bomb, but then get the cherry on the same conveyor belt to reach the goal.
Waffles will push up ingredients, but only so far up. The player has to match the ingredients into the small pockets, which will give the player more waffles that pushes the ingredient higher up to the next pocket.
Level 8449 - Endurance
Like Puzzle, the label of “Endurance” levels became a creation of mine that the Level Design team decided to adapt into their creation process.
Unlike other Candy Crush Saga Levels that are meant to be beaten before the Move Limit has reached 0, Endurance are meant to be “survived” through in some way. Be it either in a timer implemented through the mechanics or solve the main goal while dealing with a side threat.
This level is a Jelly/Order game mode, where the player has to collect all the Jelly at the right side of the board and simultaneously collect Pepper Candy to satisfy the Order on the Left side. While the right side is a rather standard Jelly Collecting gameplay, the Pepper Candies on the left are only gradually fed to the player each turn.
Act 1 - As the level begins, the player will first see how 3 Pepper Candies are dropped in the right side (C1). As nothing can really be done there with the currently limited resource, the only playable area is the Jelly collecting segment (C2). While currently out of reach, a Cake is placed in the bottom (C3), which will explode and affect the entire board when destroyed.
Act 2 - As the player plays on the Jelly side, more Pepper Candies are added to the right side, making matches potentially possible. However, as all of them only have a counter from 15 (D1), much lower than the starting Move Count of 34, this is something the player has to deal with, to not prematurely lose. On top of that, the player cannot focus for too long on the Pepper candies, as there is Chocolate (D2) on the Jelly side, which can grow and make that area hard to recover if ignored. The core of the level is being able to multitask and not leave an area for too long.
Act 3 - As the player has hopefully managed to maintain the two challenges, they will eventually be able to reach the cake, which in turn would remove 1 layer from everything, including any and all Pepper Candies on screen. This action would most likely collect the remaining Pepper Candies for Order, however, if not, if the Move Counter is 15 or below, no more new Candies of that sort would be any threat, which means the player can collect the remaining ones at their own pace.
Other Endurance Level Examples of mine that follow the same structure.
The player is only granted Candy spawn every 7 turns. Otherwise, they have to utilize the candies they have to complete the goals.
100 chocolate to collect which only spawn from the Check Mark Candies. However, this can fill up the board rather quickly making it unplayable. The player has to make strategic moves, but have a few life lines with the Color Bomb + Wrapped Combo outside the board.
33 Moves, 33 Cherries to collect, 1 collected every turn. The player has to survive the middle board until the Move counter turns to 0.
If you would like to see all of my Level Design work, below is a Youtube playlist with all of my levels.
Conclusion
4 years, from Berlin to Stockholm, +500 levels, 1 own in-game feature and other design projects.
At the time, my time at King was my longest job experience I had, longer than my University days. But as in University, I got to learn so much, meet so many passionate people and had so many opportunities to create and develop. Knowing that so many people get to experience my design is really heartwarming to me and I hope my content i Candy will pring someone joy. Fun fact, I even managed to leave a mark in the design craft, as more “puzzle” oriented design in both features and levels has been dubbed “Bräysy” levels. I am both proud and scared for that.
MISC. MEDIA APPERANCES
King Stockholm - 03/10/19