Sunday, August 11, 2013

Showcase : Snake Hunt

Snake Hunt is a modern take on the classic game Snake.  I made it as an exercise in gameplay and design.  I wanted to take a classic game that everyone knows, and upgrade the gameplay, all while keeping the same feel and general idea behind it.

I updated the movement beyond the traditional four directions, put in support for various control schemes, and added several new gameplay mechanics.  The mice now move, and get faster as you get larger.  This requires you to change your strategy as time progress, from chasing down the closest, to 'trapping' the slowest.  This is possible, since you can now wrap over yourself.  To add a level of difficulty I've added randomly spawning obstacles, as well as a constantly decreasing food bar.  If you hit one of these obstacles or the walls, or if you go too long without eating, that's game over!

Snake Hunt was made over 8 weeks, in my spare time, while interning at Microsoft.  I'd wake up at 5:30 every morning to get as much coding in as possible before work, and as soon as I got back home I'd be back to work.

It was my first professional-esque attempt at using the XNA/Monogame framework, and I learned a lot, including a lot of things I'd do differently code and design-wise.

Snake Hunt has been released in the Windows 8 Store, and can be found at the following link:
http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/app/snake-hunt/86c230bb-9ac4-4db6-ac16-868d30653713

Here's a short trailer:


You can follow the development of the game here:
An Issue Of Control
The Hunt Begins
A Level Of Difficulty