Through Kippy's Eye

Introduction

• The objective of this project was to create a calm, approachable puzzle experience built around a mechanically focused and scalable design foundation.

• The core gameplay is centred on a physics-driven transformation system, allowing players to possess and transform into environmental objects through direct interaction. Each form provided distinct physical properties and interaction possibilities, encouraging experimentation and alternative problem-solving approaches.

• Once the initial controller and transformation mechanics were established, level design became the primary focus, with environments built to support the system’s possibilities while reinforcing the project’s pillars of readability, experimentation, and relaxed pacing.

The rules

• To preserve the project’s core pillars and maintain consistency across the experience, a set of level design principles was established early in development:

  • Solve at a Glance: Levels were designed so that the objective, or at least the immediate next step, could be understood from the outset. This allowed players to form a plan before interacting with the puzzle and reinforced the game’s emphasis on readability and low-friction problem solving. As a result, each level was constrained to a single-screen layout.

  • One, Two, Three: Individual levels were limited to a maximum of three active mechanics. Restricting mechanical complexity encouraged approachable puzzle solving while allowing each interaction to remain readable and meaningful. This limitation also helped highlight emergent synergies between systems without overwhelming the player.

  • Three-Minute Rule: Levels should be solvable by the team in roughly three minutes. Exceeding this threshold often indicated unnecessary complexity or friction that conflicted with the project’s relaxed design goals.

  • The Surprise Element: Each level was expected to introduce either a new scenario, a fresh combination of mechanics, or a previously unexplored interaction. This principle helped sustain player curiosity while encouraging the discovery of reusable design patterns that could be expanded throughout the experience.

The example

• Which Floor? is the seventh level in the game and was fully redesigned following playtesting feedback gathered from earlier versions of the project. This iteration allowed the established level design principles to be applied more consistently and deliberately.

• The process began by defining the level’s core design hook: concealing the final objective from the player. As the first level to use this approach, the hidden objective served both as an introduction to a new puzzle dynamic and as the level’s novelty element, encouraging curiosity and re-evaluation of player assumptions.

• Once the core idea was established, the next step focused on integrating it with the existing mechanics. Since button interaction was a learned mechanic, this naturally led to the introduction of the elevator. Using a button interaction, players could briefly reveal the final objective without immediately reaching it, creating a sense of progress while preserving the puzzle’s discovery and anticipation. Additionally, the elevator created verticality organically, which was in tune with the movement mechanics. 

• The level layout was designed to support puzzle readability while subtly directing player attention toward the elevator through asymmetrical composition and environmental framing.

Conclusion

• Establishing clear level design principles helped maintain consistency across the project while streamlining the level creation process.

• Creative constraints encouraged focused problem solving and ensured that individual puzzles remained aligned with the game’s pillars of readability, experimentation, and approachable complexity.

• The framework also created opportunities for intentional rule-breaking. Once players became familiar with the established patterns, selectively subverting those expectations introduced moments of surprise and reinforced engagement throughout the experience.