Skyglow is a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer where players tackle light pollution by building connections with townsfolk and returning stars to the sky.

Skyglow was made collaboratively for IndieCade’s Climate Jam 2024 and won the “Jammer’s Choice” award.

The player takes on the role of Thalia, a cat who wants to restore the town’s observatory and return stars to the sky after Mr. Mayor has stolen them to power artificial light sources. Skyglow takes the player through three main platforming levels where Thalia meets Motholomew, Frogert, and Shellie, other animals whose lives have been disrupted by light pollution in different ways.

My Role

  • Designed and implemented game mechanics

  • Programmed interactions and cutscenes using Unity/C#

  • Wrote story collaboratively and wrote dialogue for Frogert

Part of the opening cutscene, where players move the telescope to discover the source of the skyglow obscuring the stars

Constellation minigame, available at the end of each section, after the player has spoken to the affected animal for the second time

Prototyping & Playtesting

Early Prototype

Our earliest prototype included a 33

Players during the first playtest of “Cat Got Your Tongue?”

During gameplay, players:

  • Didn’t recognize their inputs were switching

  • Thought their controller was bugged if they did notice the inputs were switched

  • Didn’t believe there were real consequences to speaking to each other during gameplay, so they kept verbally communicating with each other

  • Would take other player’s buttons without asking when they did eventually recognize the switching inputs

  • Walked into invisible walls without realizing there was a collider in the way

  • Got into the rhythm of working with each other to play the same character after a bit when their inputs weren’t getting switched

Post-Playtest Changes:

  • Added a “Shhhhh” text pop-up when the inputs switched, so players would understand that it was their talking triggering it

  • Added a cloud barrier to the sides as visual indication that they couldn’t move further

  • Added a timer to the top of the game as a countdown for the 60-second talking grace period

  • Integrated audio and gave future players headphones to encourage them to speak louder if they did try to verbally communicate with their teammates

Playtest 2

Our next playtest incorporated the sound sensor and the casing for our controller. We had wanted players to figure out the input switches on their own, but show them that at least something had changed when they spoke, so we didn’t add any indicators for the buttons themselves.

Players during the second playtest of “Cat Got Your Tongue?”

During gameplay, players:

  • Mashed buttons instead of trying to figure out what they did strategically, hindering gameplay

  • Were generally silent, but were so aggressive with the buttons, that the sound of button presses were triggering the sound sensor and switching their inputs, causing a positive feedback loop where players made more noise out of confusion

  • Got dizzy with the constant, intense camera shake

Post-Playtest Changes:

  • Adjusted sound sensor thresholds to accommodate for non-vocal noises

  • Elevated sound sensor part of the controller to be closer to mouths and away from buttons

  • Insulated the sound sensor with foam to prevent it from going off with little noises

  • Added a cooldown for the sensor so players could adjust themselves to the new controls and so it wouldn’t constantly go off

  • Adjusted the screen shake to be less abrasive

  • Added input displays on the screen to make it easier for players to understand what was happening

  • Incorporated more audio/visuals as feedback when the inputs changed to give players visual and auditory cues and help them understand the mechanic better

Win screen

Players during the final demo of “Cat Got Your Tongue”