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Splinter Zone

A game about escaping Eternal Punishment

Reach an impossible degree of perfection

Goal:Create systems that reward perfect play in players while also communicating to them, that they can never reach the degree of perfection that is required of them.

Idea:Integrate the game’s upgrade and scoring systems, increase the game’s difficulty over time, make the game’s high-score tracking more about chasing personal goals, instead of interpersonal competition.

Execution:

Combo System:

Finishing a stage without getting hit increases a combo counter, while destroying enemies grants both score and charges up an energy meter, which gradually grants them more power ups. Players can “spend” their meter at any time, for some healing and a temporary damage boost, but it will also end their current combo. Getting hit makes players lose their entire combo and a large portion of their meter.

High Score System:

At the beginning of each run, the game determines a “target score” that is based on the player’s previous high score. After the end of a run, their score will then get compared to that target score and depending on whether or not they manage to beat it, they’re judged to be either “adequate” or “inadequate”. They also get a semi-random rank assigned to their score, however it’s impossible to actually reach first place.

Difficulty Increase:

Every ten minutes, increase the amount of damage that enemies deal, forcing players to make less mistakes, the more experienced they have with the game.