You are a square, trying to keep your edge by associating with other squares and collecting their edges. When you come into contact with circles, you absorb their roundedness. If you become too well rounded, you lose your edge.
Keep Your Edge is a really simple game made in openFrameworks. It serves two purposes: a template for creating a simple game somewhat from scratch and learning how to create and balance levels with a minimal number of objects.
In my creative coding classes, there are always students interested in creating games. Programming a game from scratch is a giant task and for a beginner, it’s easy to get lost in trying to figure out a proper design pattern. I wrote this code with the intention of students either studying it or using it as a base template for their own games. The objects in the code match the elements in the game: enemies, collectables, protagonist. My hope is that the code reads like a book, so that comments aren’t necessarily needed.
The students that I get in my game design classes are usually gamers that are completely new to design. In the beginning, I focused on creating non-digital games so that everything revolves around designing a system. I’ve introduced digital tools such as GameSalad and Twine to give students an option for quick digital prototyping, yet some still struggle. With Keep Your Edge, my students can practice level design while also getting their work into the App Store.