Binky Saves the World- Developers Commentary

Download the Game Here: 1010meha.itch.io/binky-saves-...
Binky Saves The World is a 2 player local co-op puzzle platformer made fore the 2020 Global Game Game where I was Creative Director and Designer. We plan to polish this project and submit it to Indiecade this year. The theme for this jam was repair, and I wanted to make a game that utilized this idea in a fun, quirky, cooperative way. Our mechanic was simple. One player controls the researcher- esentially the camera, and the one who does all the platforming. The other controls Binky, a goofy pyramid who has the ability to attract objects around him. I got this idea for a mechanic from an old flash game called Meeblings I played as a kid, where you played as tiny circle creatures that can push and pull on each other to get to a goal. Binky's job is to move platforms in such a way to get the researcher to the next room. a lot of the complexity in the puzzles of the game comes from the interaction between the 2 players- with one controlling the Camera for Binky, and Binky being the one to get the researcher to the exit, the characters rely on each other to navigate the rooms together. Originally, the game had 2 camera's- one for Binky and one for the researcher. but in our early playtests, we didn't see much communication- it almost felt like our players were playing 2 seperate games, and just responding to each others input, rather than communicating and collaborating like we hoped. We realized the game offered no challenge in that regard, so we tried and playtested a few options- and elimnating a camera worked well. There was more arguments and banter between the players, and unlike some of our other instructions- neither player could simply just insturct the other what to do- they both had specific jobs that both relied on each other but restrictions in either their movement options or mechanics from solving it in too much of a straight forward manner. For example, in the dark pipe room, Binky needs the researcher to look out and down into the abyss to find the missing piece. but the researcher needs to keep her eyes on where she's stepping or else she'd easily fall down. These seemingly contradictory goals add fun puzzle solving and collaboration between players, and ultimatley added to the overall experience of the game.