Bu & Row
Bu & Row is a project created and led by me, along with the establishment of the company Spylens Entertainment. Despite being an unfinished project, I was able to work on elements such as co-op game management, dynamic split-screen camera, and a collectibles system. This project was incubated by Level Up [Game Dev Hub]
Resumed Details
Team Lead/Producer
As the Co-Founder of Spylens Entertainment, I was in charge of a 10-person team. This was an amazing experience where I learned a lot about team building and managing a company from the beginning, all while organizing sprints, conducting market research, and pitching.
Level Up [Game Dev Hub]
In May of 2024, we were accepted into the 4th edition of the Level Up pre-incubation program. Thanks to them, we received many mentorships, with a special focus on business creation and production. We were also able to attend many events such as IndieDevDay.
Game Designer
For Bu&Row, we decided to create a co-op, narrative-driven game with a 2.5D camera. For it, I had to push my abilities to the limit since it was my first multiplayer experience. In the end, it was a very fun experience to develop co-op mechanics and multiplayer maps.
Programmer
Since we started as a smaller team, I also had to program a big part of the game. During this period, I developed a dynamic split-screen camera, a co-op system similar to It Takes Two, and some game mechanics such as co-op puzzles or even a collectible system.
Description
Game Design Diary
This project started as a single-player 2.5D game, something similar to a less dynamic Sonic with a stronger focus on a puzzle-adventure experience. However, we ventured into making a cooperative game following the massive success of titles like "It Takes Two" or "We Were Here".
On top of that, joining the "Level Up [Game Dev Hub]" incubator allowed us to push forward with our idea with confidence.
Development ran from January 2024 to March 2025, when the project was ultimately canceled.
The Process
The first phase of the project lasted from January 2024 to October 2024. During this time, we tried to create an experience heavily focused on co-op puzzles. Despite being a 10-person team with the resources to work, we were hesitant to build a more narrative-driven game, as we felt it would be overly complex and take too long.
Our goal for this phase was to attend the "Indie Dev Day" event in September, following a playtesting session in July provided by Level Up.
With this in mind, we built a prototype where characters had to interact simultaneously with specific terminals to solve puzzles. These puzzles restricted each player's controls, requiring them to complement one another.
The best example was a puzzle featuring a cube that one player could rotate vertically while the other rotated it horizontally. This was our most well-received puzzle among playtesters, which clearly showed us the right path forward.
However, our biggest issue was level design. Lacking movement mechanics meant we completely lacked verticality, causing situations where players would find the puzzle before finding the "door", or in other words, what the puzzle actually solved.
Noticing this during the playtest, we decided to build another level specifically for Indie Dev Day. In this iteration, the camera shifted to an isometric view, granting full 3D movement.
Although the concept was interesting, it clashed heavily with the rest of the game and was poorly received at the event. We decided to remove it on the very first day so players could end their experience on a positive note.
After the event, the second phase began.
We realized we were limiting ourselves in two major areas: the lack of narrative, and the fact that the art direction was entirely 3D.
Regarding the narrative, we decided to rewrite the little story we had to create a narrative with a clear beginning and end. This allowed us to define a clearer scope and offered a strong selling point for players.
However, the project was ultimately canceled because several team members became inactive, making it impossible to continue development and see short-term progress.