Amarillan Room
This was the first video game I ever made. It started as a series of MS Paint drawings of my room that I made when I was like 17 after playing Crimson Room and similar games. After that, I learned some programming and made a java version of the game that required insane precision. Then, in 2012 I purchased an iOS developer license and ported the game pretty fast. The game is not very interesting: it’s just a simple “escape the room” point-and-click. However, I love it for being my first official game. Also, it is my most downloaded game so far.
The Honeycomb
This is a puzzle platformer game that I put a lot of effort into. I teamed up with Cristian Salinas (a friend from school), he made the art and I designed the game and the levels. I even bought some music for it. The game was a big fail in terms of downloads but I’m very proud of the mechanics and the level design. With this game I confirmed that you should always start small.
New Journey
While working on The Honeycomb, I started to feel very compelled to create a game inspired by J.L. Borges’ short stories. Then, after playing “Corrypt” by Michael Brough, I came up with the idea of being inside a multiverse and having the power to intertwine different realities (using stuff from a reality to change another one). The game is absolutely crazy. Even the introductory puzzles are hard. But hey, it’s a game I created for myself, and I like it a lot. Also, I’m working on a sequel or something.
Telekin
When Puzzle Script first came out, I thought it was wonderful. Everyone was making sokoban games, so I decided to twist a bit the rules. I still remember one of the comments I received about the game; it was something like: “what have you done??? Now I can’t play other games because It feels weird when blocks don’t react if you move towards them!”
Totem Clash
Totem Clash is a 2-player turn-based strategy game. Originally, the goal was to destroy your enemy’s totems by just tackling them, but this did not offer any strategic possibilities, so I changed it and now it’s all about tackling your opponent out of the board, which is a lot more fun and interactive. After making this game, I decided that 2-player turn-based games have a big problem: when it’s not your turn, it is not fun to wait for the other player while they think, and when your turn finally arrives, it is very stressful to think of your move knowing that your opponent is waiting for you.
Amber Halls
I started working on Amber Halls after playing some roguelikes. The game combines permadeath, level randomization and sokoban mechanics. The result is a game that looks extremely difficult when you first play it, but then evolves into a very challenging puzzle game that you can play every day. The game was frustrating to many players, which is why it was not so successful, but I think it is the best game I’ve made.
Power Grounds
Power Grounds is a roguelike in which you fight enemies using powerups, but powerups are tied to tiles in the floor. It is a simple premise that turned out to be very fun and challenging. This is my most successful game yet, and I think the success is a mix of the game being good and me being lucky: Apple featured it on the App Store and on their twitter account. I don’t know how they pick their featured games, but I am very thankful.
Considering the odds that the player has in Power Grounds, one of his only weapons is to carry an extra life around (brown). Unfortunately this doesn’t kill the enemy anymore. Instead of dying the enemy pieces just get pushed along till more of the enemy gathers to kill off the player. Fix this, please. It’s destroying a good game!