Kin
Kin was created as part of a collaborative group project for one of my classes. It's a narrative-driven stealth game exploring family relationships and corporate ethics. The game features stealth mechanics and combat, in a 2D pixel-art style. It was developed using Unity and C#.
Project Goal and Reasoning
We set out to create an engaging narrative experience that encourages players to reflect on complex themes like family dynamics, ethical decision-making, and personal responsibility.
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The story starts out with our protagonist David visiting his dad's office and discovering a dark secret. David then sets out to get to the bottom of this revelation and confront his dad.
We chose this idea because we wanted to explore storytelling through interactive gameplay mechanics, combining stealth, puzzles, and strategic combat to immerse players fully into the game's narrative. The story also let us weave in a reason to have combat by giving David abilities to use.
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The pixel-art visual style was selected to provide an approachable yet expressive aesthetic that complements the game's serious themes.
Gameplay Overview
Players must use stealth to avoid detection, solve environmental puzzles to progress through levels, and strategically engage in combat when necessary.
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The gameplay emphasizes thoughtful decision-making and exploration, with keyboard-based controls (WASD or Arrow keys) ensuring intuitive navigation throughout the game.
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​Gameplay consists of 3 elements:
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Navigational puzzles
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Stealth system
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Combat system
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Navigational puzzles: It requires the player to explore the map while also looking for keys to get to the next level. This provides an opportunity for us to tell an environmental narrative.
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Stealth system: For the stealth, when the enemies are too powerful or too many the player must navigate the map carefully. Initially if detected it is a one shot kill, eventually the player learns to fight back.
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Combat system: When the player receives a special item in the game they have the ability to fight back and when the combat system kicks in it will be turn based.
Development Process
Kin was developed within 8 weeks. It was made for a class at Drexel University where the goal was to make a fun game while learning about Game Design and flow.
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During the initial planning and development phase we sat down as a team and ideated on what could the game be, what are our inspirations and what the map design should be like.
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You can read more about the development process for the game in our Game Design Document!
These were just some of the initial notes we had during the ideation process.
Group Collaboration
This project was developed collaboratively with my teammates Angel and Yang.
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Our responsibilities:
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Angel: Head developer/designer, Story writer, Programmer
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Ayaan: UI/UX, Story writer, Stealth system, Dialogue, Gameplay Designer
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Yang: Head artist, Story writer, Gameplay Designer
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Asset packs from the Unity store were used to add the dialogue and combat system. We play tested the game with several groups and received good feedback and implemented changes accordingly.
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Additionally there were some disagreements during the development phase but we managed to overcome them by compromising and listening to each other. Teaching up the importance of good communication.
Results and Reflections
We learned and grew a lot during the development of Kin. One of the more memorable moments is when I initially disagreed with our head developer and disagreed on adding a combat system since the protagonist was a child. We then went through adding things in the story that would make sense
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Hence why combat is initially not playable. This is how we learned to compromise which an important lesson to learn. We also already learned art generation, map design and dialogue writing.​
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Game testing was also conducted by us and it proved invaluable. It gave us important feedback specifically on the stealth and combat system. Initially testers felt the game was too easy with the stealth system allowing you to escape security and that the game was short. We responded to this feedback with adding additional levels and in turn more combat scenarios and making detection an instant fail if caught.
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Overall, this was a good project to learn from specifically about collaboration, the importance of game testing and feedback. But also Flow which creates immersion and helps players have more fun.
Description
Product Details
Kin is a narrative-driven adventure game exploring themes of family relationships, corporate ethics, and personal responsibility. The game features stealth mechanics, puzzle-solving, and strategic combat in a 2D pixel-art style. Developed over 8 weeks, Kin immerses players in a story-rich environment while challenging them with thoughtful gameplay mechanics.
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My Role
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Designed levels that integrated narrative elements with stealth and puzzle mechanics.
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Wrote interactive dialogue to drive the game's story.
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Collaborated with teammates on gameplay mechanics (stealth detection, combat systems).
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Contributed to playtesting and refining gameplay balance based on feedback.