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Shunt Balushian
Game Developer
Anxious Pets is a game that worked on in 2018. It was the thesis project of a group of Animation students at San Jose State. I was brought onto the project as a member of the programming team. It is a tamagatchi style game where you are tasked with taking care of a pet. It also has elements of Animal Crossing where you can customize the look of your room. There are mini-games that you can complete to gain in game currency to buy more things for your room. The game was being developed for mobile and used the Unity platform. Following the students graduation, the team decided to no longer work on the game's assets or make any improvements. It was a lot of fun working on a game in a genre where I was not the target audience. I had to think about the genre and dive deep into what makes an engaging experience for lovers of the genre. It was a lot of fun and it looks so cute too!
GateRunners is a TCG (Trading Card Game) that I always have running in the back of my head so to speak. The inspiration for the game comes from the many card games I have played and MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games like League of Legends and Warcraft 3. I have been working on the rules and mechanics for over a few years now and have a playable version that I play with a group of friends. I also presented the game at Protospiel 2018. Below is some original artwork for the game that I commissioned. I plan to port the game to mobile and PC once complete, as well as produce the physical game. Which is probably very far into the future, because the game has its fair share of problems. That being said I often find myself thinking about the rules, or new strategies. My biggest problem is the resource system in the game. It constantly changes because nothing ever feels just right. But I am sure with time GateRunners will get there eventually!
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