Growth is a small solo game created in Construct 2 for a two day game jam at the University of Bolton in September 2017.
As this was my very first game jam and I had little coding experience, I wanted to make something that was simple in execution but still fairly experimental in design and game mechanics.
The player is tasked with managing the plant’s resources to suit its needs. Adjust the amount of light and water the plant receives using the bars at the bottom of the screen. Plants are fickle and its needs will change regularly, but unfortunately plants can’t talk so the only way to judge its needs are to experiment adjusting the conditions and watch how it affects the growth. Once the plant is fully grown, the player is given a score of their efficiency based on the difference between an ideal game and their time.
Given the theme of ‘growth’ and two days to create a game, my initial idea was a pet simulator ‘with a twist’. From the very beginning I wanted to avoid direct control of a player character as this is a very common staple in games. Instead of controlling a character who influences the world, the player themselves would have direct, real-time control over the game via UI elements. In order to closer fit the theme, the pet became a houseplant and the goal was to help it reach its final growth stage.
There are two resources: light and water. These ended up being inversely proportional so that the player would only ever need to adjust one bar. This decision was made because the ideal conditions are invisible to the player and the feedback the player gets is by watching the rate of growth of the plant or the progress bar. With two separate bars there would be a less immediate effect on the overall progress and it would be unclear which resource needed adjusting. Severing the relationship between the resources would require additional feedback related to each of the resources, something that was beyond the scope of the project.
The conditions that the plant desires change as the in-game time of day changes, which cycles much faster than actual time. The scene outside the window will change over time and each time it changes the plant’s ideal conditions change. This provides the player with clear feedback for when and why their rate of growth is changing. The conditions change quickly to require constant reaction and input from the player, keeping them engaged.