Fuse Runner was built over the course of a 36-hour game jam and serves as a tight, self-contained proof-of-concept for fast-paced 2D action puzzle mechanics. The game revolves around the core theme of ignition and urgency. All design decisions, from visual hierarchy to mechanical interaction, were driven by the goal of creating tension through movement, decision-making, and time pressure.
This page outlines the creative intent, design principles, and systems-level thinking that informed development—making it relevant for external studios evaluating our team’s approach to rapid prototyping, system modularity, and gameplay clarity.
- Immediate Engagement: The player is introduced to the core mechanic—drawing fuse lines—within the first few seconds of gameplay.
- Tactile Responsiveness: Line drawing and fire movement are designed to feel responsive, fast, and meaningful.
- Challenge through Systems, Not Complexity: Obstacles such as wind zones and water hazards increase tension without overwhelming the player.
- Modularity and Extensibility: The systems in place can be extended to support more environmental interactions (e.g., ice tiles, explosive barrels, switches).
- Draw Fuse – The player clicks and drags to draw a fuse path from the fire source to the bomb. A valid fuse is shown with positive feedback; invalid paths (e.g., through walls or beyond limits) are clearly rejected.
- Ignite – When released, the fire automatically ignites and begins traveling along the drawn path.
- React – As the fire travels, players must anticipate wind disruptions, avoid water hazards, and consider how power-ups affect speed and control.
- Chain – Fire can transfer to additional fuse lines, enabling complex multi-stage puzzle interactions.
- Explode or Fail – If the fire reaches the bomb, the level is won. If it burns out or leaves the valid fuse path, the player fails and resets.
- Implemented using Unity’s
LineRenderer and EdgeCollider2D.
- Real-time collision validation against tilemaps ensures player input remains grounded in the game world.
- Designed to support intuitive curves and directional constraint logic, giving players creative flexibility within the rule set.
- Uses interpolated movement with a trail effect for visual clarity.
- Designed to support acceleration, deceleration, and direction reversal to enable nuanced mechanics such as dual-direction fire (midpoint ignition).
- Wind Zones: Apply directional forces that shift the fire from its path if not countered by proper line design.
- Water Puddles: Instantly extinguish fire if touched, serving as strategic barriers.
- Power-Ups: Affect speed (e.g.,
slow by 50% for 3s or speed up) and can be manually placed by level designers for skill curve balancing.
- High-contrast particle effects for fire and ignition give players immediate feedback.
- Soft visual cues for wind and water help players pre-emptively plan safe paths.
- Color-coded fuse lines indicate validity: red for invalid, yellow/orange for ignited, grey for spent.
Each mechanic was designed with reusability and extendability in mind:
| System |
Modular? |
Notes |
| Fuse Drawing |
✅ |
Easily swappable with gesture or grid placement systems |
| FireEffectMover |
✅ |
Supports path chaining, speed modifiers, and wind |
| Environment Zones |
✅ |
Scriptable and parameterized |
| Fuse Burner |
✅ |
Allows multi-directional fire logic, attachable to triggers or timed events |
This modular approach makes Fuse Runner an excellent prototype foundation for broader games involving pathing, energy systems, or reactive puzzles.
The core design of Fuse Runner demonstrates our team’s ability to:
- Develop tightly scoped mechanics with deep potential
- Build for extensibility under time constraints
- Integrate tactile UI/UX with meaningful player feedback
- Solve technical and design problems collaboratively and fast
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