Gameplay First Jam: Graffiti Gecko
A chase game where breaking the law has never been this fun
Context
Outrun the cops, tag the streets, own the city.
Graffiti Gecko is a fast-paced "cops and robbers" style game where players sprint through city streets, dodging cops while tagging graffiti to advance through levels. Each level ramps up the challenge with more cops, faster chases, and trickier tags. Be careful of getting caught!
UI / UX Designer
1 Project Manager, 1 Designer, 1 Artist, 2 Developers
Jul 2025 (1 month)
Challenge
Wait, are we the bad guys?
The Gameplay First Game Jam 2025 brought together game developers, artists, and storytellers from across the community. The jam's theme "Wait, are we the bad guys?" is a fun twist on perspective. It challenges us to explore moral ambiguity and role reversal. We aimed to create a game that's immediate in fun, satisfying in skill, and wickedly mischievous.
Process Highlights
Here's how we built Graffiti Gecko in a month:
Theme Brainstorm - Explored the "Wait, are we the bad guys?" theme and defined the player fantasy: fast-paced, tense, and mischievous gameplay that makes breaking the rules feel fun.
Prototyping Screens & Mechanics - Built the start menu, HUD, and core tagging / chase interactions to test gamplay flow quickly and to ensure the controls felt intuitive.
Playtesting & Iterating - Tested with users and collected feedback. Tweaked controls, tagging timing, and behaviors to make the game fun.
Escalating Stakes - Escalated the challenge by adding more cops, faster chases, trickier tags to keep players on their toes as they level up.
Final Polish - Layered in animations, neon spray-paint colors, sound effects, and UI details to give the game personality, energy, and a cohesive street-art style.
Key Learnings
Embracing iteration over perfection:
Quick prototyping, continuous testing, and rapid iteration were essential to shaping a fun, tense chase experience. I learned that trying to make everything "perfect" too early can slow progress. By embracing iteration and focusing on the game's core mechanics first, we were able to transform rough prototypes into a polished and engaging game.
Collaborative creativity thrives under time constraints:
Working together over a tight month-long schedule reinforced the importance of trusting teammates and maintaining clear communication. Strong collaboration allows ideas to evolve faster, problems to be solved efficiently, and confident design decisions to emerge even under time constraints.