Our internal projects continue to be the hub of creative exploration and skill development. For our most recent project, we took a trip down memory lane and recreated the first iteration of TTT Studios’ original hyper-casual mobile app game, Animal Tumble! The original game was created during the early stages of TTT, a time where the tools available were limited and our skillset focused on iOS app experiences. Although the original version was a favourite among the team for years, we thought it would be an interesting experiment to use our advanced skillset as the inspiration to modernize the application to what we would want to play today, following newer design trends and gameplay dynamics.
Elevating Animal Tumble’s playing experience
Our goal when recreating the stacking tower game wasn’t to dramatically change it but to enhance the gaming experience and align it with up-to-date software and design elements. A quick breakdown of changes included:
- Incorporating 3D elements: This was the most significant and apparent alteration. The original app only used 2D elements. By implementing new 3D blocks, backgrounds, and effects, while adjusting the camera angle, we could preserve the original gameplay style while creating a completely distinct gameplay experience.
- PhotoMe feature: To personalize the gaming experience, we incorporated a new feature which allows players to add a photo of themselves to use in the game. As you’re stacking, rather than seeing the default animal blocks, you’ll see your face stacking up instead!
- Building a gaming community: In the U.S., 35% of hyper-casual gamers enjoy a reference check to see other players' high scores on a leaderboard. To increase the game's level of competitiveness beyond that of a casual game, we incorporated a leaderboard system into the game, utilizing both Google Play Game Services and Apple Game Center.
Building a 3D mobile app game with Unity Technologies
Throughout my experience working with Unity, I’ve created 3D and 2D games, medical VR projects, and AR gaming projects. I am consistently impressed with the engine’s capabilities, features, and versatility. By leveraging their technology, we can positively impact various industries and play around to continue to discover its potential. The entire team had a lot of fun recreating a hit game that has become part of our culture at TTT, and we are proud to share it with a wider audience.
3 key benefits to using Unity for game development
- Time-saving tool: Unity's ability to build for different platforms has been a significant time saver for us during development. With a wealth of SDKs, plugins and APIs available for the Unity engine, the game's development cycle has also been streamlined.
- Resourceful asset management: By leveraging Unity's addressable functionality, we could easily swap assets for blocks and backgrounds without the need to submit a new version. Instead, we uploaded the AssetBundle to our S3 bucket. This feature allowed us to quickly create special game versions for holidays or other occasions.
- Physics component capabilities: Using Unity’s physics components, Animal Tumble’s effects and gameplay were more spontaneous and authentic as the calculations were performed in real time.
