Goozy

As 1 of 4 designer/programmers contributing from the start of the project to ship, I undertook a range of responsibilities:

- Designed high level game systems, and created detailed design documents outlining all the major aspects of the game, influenced by extensive research of comparable titles and a thorough understanding of the project goals.

- Using C# programming I developed the various modules for the multi-tool and door locking puzzle mechanics.

- Worked closely with the other departments to integrate art, animation, sound design, and visual effects for the multi tool, lock mechanics, and other various instances.

- Heavily tested and polished gameplay mechanics, balanced difficulty, and refined puzzle flow to ensure an optimal user experience.

Goozy is a mobile-first casual survival horror game, where you take on the role of a local reporter, entering an abandoned house in search of answers.  Once inside, you are trapped, and must evade the shape shifting ooze demon that is Goozy.

The player is given little direction besides the cork board hanging on the wall as you enter the house. The board is dotted with vague hints about the slime family, highlights the basement, and warns of Goozy.

The player will need to learn to navigate the house, utilize the multi-tool, and search to discover story clues, audio logs, slime family, and more multi-tool modules through searching.

We developed this game for the YouTube channel FGTeeV and were inspired by the likes of Granny and Hello Neighbor, and wanted to inject the zaniness of FGTeeV, resulting in the goofy horror of Goozy.

To include the FGTeeV family into the game in a unique way, we created slime versions of them, and require the player to collect them to complete the game. The main objective of the game is to collect them with the Slime Vac, and make it to the basement. The slime family are hidden throughout the house and pop out of 'searchable' items, and then run around frantically trying to get away from the player and find a new hiding spot.

[footage of multitool cut together to show all of the modules in one gif]

The multi-tool is an expandable piece of technology that allows for different modules to be applied that are essential for completing the objectives of Goozy. The player must explore and find these modules to gain access to different sections of the house. These newly accessed areas will have slime family and more multi-tool modules to discover through searching. Additionally, using modules can produce loud sounds, like smashing boards with the Ex-Hammer, or touching a gate in Atomic Lock puzzles. These loud sounds will trigger Goozy to appear and investigate the area.

The target demographic of the FGTeeV franchise are around 5 - 10 years old so we tried to keep game mechanics simple, while still having some extra depth and difficulty in puzzle solving, and spacial awareness. This keeps the game lightweight to pick up and get into but those who are looking for a challenge can find enjoyment in the experience of unraveling the puzzle of the house as a whole.

The Atomic Lock is a multi tool module made to accentuate mobile controls, and requires the player to drag their finger through a maze of alarm triggering gates [much like the board game operation].  If they touch a gate, an alarm will sound and trigger Goozy to appear and investigate the area.

Wall slime and notes found through searching can also contain codes to be punched into pin pad locks.  Wall slime will reveal its message if the player points at it with the Slime Light equipped and on.

The wire cutting puzzles are probably the most complicated puzzle we have in Goozy, because you have to mentally connect circuit panels to their corresponding locked doors, sometimes separated by floors of the house.  Doorways blocked by wire cutting puzzles have screens with numbers above, these match the numbers painted on the circuit panels.

In addition the player must search for notes or find wall slime to discover the required symbols and then cut the correct wire. If the wrong wire is cut, an alarm will sound and trigger Goozy to appear and investigate the area.

Goozy launched to a lot of love from the FGTeeV fandom, hitting 1 million downloads in 3 weeks.  We also had 28,000 reviews with an average score of 4.5/5, a Discord community with over 24,000 members, and loads of fan art rolling in, some of which is featured below.