Need For Trees
Need For Trees is a 2d racing game developed for IOS and Android in the Unity Engine. Players are tasked with racing through 30 unique custom made levels in attempt to achieve the fastest time, highest score, and to plant as many trees as possible. This game was created to bring awareness to the ongoing climate change crisis. Every milestone in the game, when a player hits a certain score/XP threshold, we are planting a tree IN REAL LIFE! We believe that Need For Trees is the first of its kind and no other game has done this before! We want players to be able to give back to our earth but also have fun while they do it! Need For Trees will be available on the Google play and IOS App store holiday 2022.
Role: Project lead, Creative Director, Sole Programmer, Level Designer
Made in : Unity Engine.
Key Gameplay Features
in game shop.
Vehicles
There are several different vehicle themes players can buy or unlock. These themes represent real world trees. We wanted to remind players of how beautiful our worlds natural foliage is and to encourage them to keep playing our game!
Obstacles
There are several different obstacle types players will find throughout the levels. Some are static and wont move, some will chase the player, and some will become activated once a player gets within a certain range. This causes for very immersive and fast paced gameplay!
Timing and Scoring
Players are tasked with racing through levels in attempt to get the fastest time and highest score possible. The better the score/time the more XP the player will earn. This XP is used to plant trees in real life! When the tree meter (right hand side of GIF) fills up, we plant a tree in real life! If a player ranks gold on every level, they unlock the Golden Tree !!
Key Design Features
Level Progression and Audio
I wanted the levels to represent the positive impact the player is making by playing our game. As the player gets further into the levels, they will have planted more and more trees in real life. So the first 1-10 levels are a baron empty waste land, consisting of dead trees, and gloomy backdrops. from level 11-20, the player will have planted several trees, so we start to see some foliage come back into our theme and the sky is getting brighter. The Final ten levels are full of lush green foliage. Grass and moss have started appearing on our drivable surfaces and the sky is bright blue without a cloud in sight. The in game sound track also heavily reflects the mood of each level. Every level consists of a unique song. The first ten levels have sad, almost scary songs, but as the player progresses, these songs become happier and more up-beat. By level 30 the player is basically listening to a super happy up-beat song you would most likely hear at a rave!
These key design features really shows the player the benefits of playing our game and encourages them to keep playing!
UI Design
I wanted the games UI to match and demonstrate the nature/saving the world theme as much as possible. So I decided to make all of our buttons and key text wooden themed. It adds a beautiful look to the game but also reinforces the fact that what players are doing here is truly important and provides us with the resources we need to keep living a thriving happy lifestyle. Everywhere you go in the game you will see nature related UI elements. We aim to remind the players as much as possible how important what they are doing is and what they are working towards by playing our game.
Unique Levels
Need For Trees contains 30 unique hand crafted levels. Each with their own unique obstacles and shortcuts!
