Takotan - 星のタコ

Takotan is an arcade shoot 'em up inspired by games on the SNES and Genesis. It features 8 levels each with it's own boss, alongside a variety of power-ups and a unique roster of enemies.

Accessibility was a huge focus in the game's vision. I observed early on that a lot of shoot 'em ups favoured a high skill ceiling with bullet hell gameplay. I decided to make a shoot 'em up that could be enjoyed by players of varying skill levels.

This was achieved through 3 distinct game modes:

Normal

The intended experience.
Featuring a health recovery mechanic that allows skilled players to avoid defeat when their health reaches zero.

Panic

The games hard mode.
Designed for hardcore players that want a challenge, player health is reduced significantly.

Custom

A mode that allows players to completely customise their game experience, allowing them to set their own challenges and difficulty.

Assist

An assist mode was included to ensure the game could be enjoyed by all.

Engine:

Game Maker

Language:

Role:

Game Design
Code
Art/Animation

Development

The game started development as part of uni coursework. This version of the game was built in Monogame as a rough demo.

The game was remade and developed further in Game Maker over the summer of 2018, taking roughly 4 months to finish. However before releasing the game I held a number of playtests to gather feedback that would go on to inform gameplay and balance iteration. It was published to Steam on 15th May 2019.

Later I collaborated with the publisher Eastasiasoft and with their help released the game worldwide in 8 different languages on the PS5, PS4, PS Vita, XBOX ONE/Series, and Nintendo Switch in September 2020.

The game also had two limited edition physical releases on the PS Vita and PS4, manufactured by PlayAsia and Red Art Games respectively.

Publisher

Steam