That’s roughly the genre I’m aiming for with Signal Islands. The ‘Bullet Hell’ or ‘twin-stick shooter’ genre has a long and storied past, of which I am not a historian. Though not an expert, I’ve always been a fan of the frenetic pace and the way artists and game designers have managed to keep the formula exciting and new.

Divergent (and perhaps dissonant) to this is the sub-set of games that are generally referred to as ‘casual’ games. These are not genre specific and you probably have a different set of games you’d put in the genre than I would. It’s a broad term, but I use it to mean games for everyone (that don’t require a certain skill-set), characterized by a dialed down sense of danger or need.

Puzzle games for mobile platforms are generally considered ‘casual’ titles, but they are often too simple or become too repetitive for my tastes. Games like Sim City or some games in the strategy genre begin ‘casual’, but quickly ramp up the difficulty and the danger until they’ve become something different. This, while it makes plenty of sense for what the games are trying to do, also doesn’t appeal to me and doesn’t match what I’m trying to accomplish. Certainly, no one would say that ‘shoot-em-up’ games would overlap with casual games either. But that’s what I want to create. A hybrid of timing and motion without the stress of inherent danger.

The aesthetics and the music will play a role in that feeling, but the gameplay needs to be the most important factor. This should be obvious, yet I find myself having to remind myself that gameplay comes first in all of this. Probably because it’s what I have the least amount of experience with…

So. How will it be done? Here are a few of my thoughts so far…

• Large levels with plenty of room to move around (levels that constrict or change in size are often a hallmark of twin-stick shooters)

• Clear colors to mark specific enemy types and character capabilities

• Music cues

• Endless lives (That’s the plan for now anyways. Players will be rewarded for using less lives and less ammo and maybe even playing with style, but they should always be able to complete any level)

• Endless ammo (though there will be game mechanics that limit how frequently you can shoot and that will reward you for shooting less. So the emphasis is on using what you have wisely, rather than worrying about running out)

• A weapons system more focused on timing than speed (Which makes this a little more like a puzzler than a straightforward shooter)

• Story rewards (That give the player a sense of real accomplishment from finishing a level)

I’m just getting started with all this. Who knows how much it’ll change. But these are my ideas so far.