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Warioware DIY

Warioware DIY

  • While it's far from the most conventional prototyping tool, Warioware DIY is great for making really simple games - because that's all it can do. The system is all about constraints: you have 256 "points" to spend on art, animations, sound, and programming. Building this in Unity wouldn't take much time (and would help remove many of the constraints), but there's something irresistibly charming about building everything on a DS. Plus it's an incredible reminder that games can be really, really, really simple!

  • Also, you might be wondering why everyone cries at the end of each game. Well, I saw it in a couple of the built in microgames and immediately fell in love with the clarity of the feedback. And I thought it was super funny - when's the last time someone's cried in a video game?

  • Choco-lots!

    Eat all of the chocolates before they roll away! While that doesn't make for a great employee, everyone knows chocolate is made to eat, not watch. This was the first game I made, and came with a slew of learnings. The biggest one was getting the track lines to properly loop.

  • Charm School

    Pick the right utensil for the meal (Anything less would be so embarrassing). Getting five random states required using nearly every trick at my disposal, which even includes a fall through state if everything else fails. And yes, I had to look up the etiquette over and over again.

  • Call Toss

    Follow the trajectory and catch the ball! This one is all about anticipating the ball's movement and tapping at just the right time. Because the game is limited to only 15 sprites, covering up the ball's path was a lot of trail and error. Adjusting the target touch zone was really easy though - if the pixel is transparent, it won't trigger.

  • Stack Rabbit

    Stack the vegetables in order! Making the order random proved difficult with the limited tools, since the win conditions are tied to specific configurations. The music is a rough approximation of the actual music from Stack Rabbit (See: my lack of musical ability). Oh, and the fail state isn't so much a statement about monetization, rather it was the best way to heighten the sense of loss.

  • Wait Floor It

    Don't go until the flag drops! You'll have to keep your eyes peeled, however, since sometimes it will just flap in the wind. This microgame uses the "long" setting, which ups the intensity as you wait for the flag to drop.