Puzzles - iPhone Game Blueprints - page 163

Let's plan that type of game. For example, it can be a spiritual sequel to the card/
board from the previous chapter; the story about the robots on asteroids continues.
Let's give it a code name The lifeboat breakthrough . Here's the plot:
One of the robots successfully got in the space lifeboat, started the engine, and tried
to leave the guileful asteroid. But suddenly, it received some unpleasant news. First
of all, the lifeboat was not in perfect condition, and many nodes and components
were almost broken. They worked on a wing and a prayer. Moreover, Murphy's Law
prevailed; the level of fuel was very low and any minute the space vessel was going
to fall down on the surface of the asteroid. Another "pleasant" discovery: there were
hundreds fragments of the mother ship and rocks in space, which got stuck in the
asteroid's gravity and looked like an impassable shell, covering the minor planet.
But the lead character did not lose his cool; he looked at the sky attentively and no-
ticed that the fragments around the lifeboat might be not obstacles but lifesavers;
there were many useful parts, which could help fix his space lifeboat. Also, there
were many tanks of fuel. One of the advantages of the space lifeboat was special
mechanical arms (since it was sometimes used as a repair vessel), so the robot on
board could try to grab the fragments he needed. Using a workbench, he also could
build various useful things, primarily weapons, which would help him to destroy dan-
gerous rocks. The robot wipes away a drop of robot's sweat—which actually is a
series of broken pixels on an image sensor—and grabs the control sticks; the dan-
gerous quest has begun.
According to the plot, the game screen is the space lifeboat's dashboard. There is a
window at the top, showing a starry sky and rows of fragments. Below it is situated
the placeholder for weapons, progress bars for resources, and several special but-
tons.
The game features seven types of fragments:
• Metal : These are the pieces of scrap metal. They are the fragments of the
boarded things on the mother ship.
• Electronics : These are various chips and cards.
• Cog-wheel : These are parts of the mother ship's mechanics.
• Fuel tank : These are tanks full of fuel.
• Nut : These are elements of bracing.