Weapon Merge
Updated: 18 hours ago
Weapon Merge began as a three-hour game jam project and later evolved into a cross-platform casual game released on iOS, Android, and WebGL.
The original prototype was created for Mini Jam 73, whose theme was “Power” with a limitation of displaying only five colors on screen at once. We interpreted the theme as weapon power and developed a physics-based merging game around increasingly powerful weapons.
The core interaction is simple: a mechanical claw moves above a battlefield trench carrying a weapon bubble. The player chooses where to drop it. When two weapons of the same level collide, they merge into the next-level weapon.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Role: Game Designer · Programmer
Engine: Unity · C#
Platforms: iOS · Android · WebGL
Project Type: Casual Physics Game
Origin: Mini Jam 73
Core Focus: Gameplay Systems · Physics Tuning · UI/UX · Cross-Platform Development
FROM THREE-HOUR PROTOTYPE TO RELEASE
The first playable version was built during the final three hours of the 72-hour jam and ranked #104 out of 179 entries. We continued developing the game for several months afterward, eventually releasing it on itch.io, Google Play, and the App Store.
One of the earliest design changes came directly from playtesting. We originally kept the irregular silhouettes of individual weapons to create unpredictable physical interactions. Their sharp corners, however, frequently caused weapons to obstruct one another. We eventually placed the weapons inside circular bubbles, preserving physics-based movement while making merging more predictable and readable.
PHYSICS & GAMEPLAY BALANCING
Physics tuning became an important part of the game's design. We iterated on properties including size, mass, and friction to balance readability and movement. Higher-level weapons needed to appear visibly more powerful without becoming so large that they dominated the play area.
At the same time, bubbles needed enough movement to create opportunities for buried weapons to merge without bouncing uncontrollably around the screen.
I also implemented an Earthquake Shake ability whose force scales with the number of bubbles currently in the trench. A fixed force was ineffective when the trench was crowded and excessively powerful when only a few bubbles remained, so I replaced it with a dynamic calculation based on the current game state.
GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS
I designed and implemented a Combo Merge system to reward chain reactions. A single newly dropped weapon can move surrounding bubbles and trigger multiple merges, turning the physics simulation itself into an opportunity for higher scores.
I also implemented its dynamic UI, moving combo feedback closer to the merging weapons so players could more easily notice and understand the result.
The game also supports single-color and double-color modes. Double-color mode makes spatial arrangement significantly more important because matching requires both weapon level and color.
FAILURE STATE & PLAYER FEEDBACK
We changed the game's objective during development from reaching the highest weapon level to surviving while preventing the stack from reaching a deadline above the trench.
Physics created an important fairness problem: a bouncing bubble could briefly touch the deadline and immediately end the game.
Instead of treating any collision as an instant failure, we added a timer and flashing warning, giving players a short opportunity to reduce the height of the stack before losing.
UI/UX ITERATION
After releasing early versions and collecting player feedback, UI became one of our main areas of improvement.
I fixed anchoring issues across different resolutions so interface text would not interfere with the weapon spawner. I also moved combo feedback from a fixed position at the top of the screen to dynamic positions beside the actual merging weapons after observing that some players failed to notice it.
These iterations focused on keeping important gameplay information visible without competing with the play area.
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