AllStar Tower Defense
7.5 Billion plays
Brief
Design a new update-Original IP
(New World, Levels, Characters, Mounts, Enemies, Bosses, and Storyline)
Pre-Update Changes
Before starting on the update I noticed through user feedback, that players HAD to go to the games wiki in order to understand their units' statistics. This would result in players needing to leave the game and check the stats.
A quick fix for this was to update the Unit Cards to show more info, keeping players in the game and knowledgeable on what they can expect from that unit
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This simple change boosted the CCU from 45k to around 80k with longer playtimes
Design Overview
With so many additions, I had to break it down. Starting with theme and Bosses.
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From there I broke down their enemies and then the "Allstars" that would take them down
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The overall theme was Elemental
Fire,Water,Grass, and Electricity
Design Challenges
This was an existing game with an almost endless cast of characters.
A big thing for me was to make sure my new characters would fit in to the existing catalog without ruining balance.
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How did I do this?
Tons of user testing. My team and I would join players and play the hardest mode in the game "Endless Mode".
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Through these user testing sessions a theme kept popping up.
More Economy and "Freezing" units
These types of units would help players reach later rounds and earn more currency.
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I liked this approach more than adding a bunch of 000's to my new characters damage output- that's boring and in turn ruins the balance of ALL of the units.
(New and Old)
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Level Design
Some New AllStars
The Fisherman (Economy Unit)
How He Worked: After every round he would pull something from the water- Could be a boot earning the player nothing OR he could pull The Golden Chest which was the highest reward in the game.
Risk and Reward
Echastia the Siren (Freeze Unit)
How She Worked: Echastia was a relatively damage unit but her real use came once the player leveled her up to max unlocking her active ability: "Siren Song" freezing enemies in place for 3 seconds.
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Level design began in Figma-
It is important when making tower defense levels that the course has turns (to give players more time) and "forks in the road" for difficulty.
-These forks force players to work together to cover both lanes.
Birds Eye Level Design
Inspiration
Biggest Takeaway
Players need ALL the information
-Adding stats and their progression was a big quality of life change for the players allowing them to stay in the game rather than going to the WIKI.
Create, Test, and Balance
-This really goes back to the idea of NOT just adding characters with massive damage numbers (which ruins balance) but ways to solve problems the players are facing.
Moments of Pride
Creating 3 of the top 5 economy units in the game that are still "in Meta"!
Funny Mounts that players enjoyed
