THE HERD
The Herd is a coop, strategy-adventure game built for PC, keyboard and controller. It was developed during a weekend-long game jam in Vancouver, BC. In The Herd, players guide a herd of llamas and navigate a mountain landscape as siblings, Mateo and Maria. Their goal is to reach the golden grain peak to bring everlasting life to their herd and venerate their father.
Role
Producer
Tools
Notion, Adobe Suite, Figma, Unity
Deliverable
Two functional playable prototypes
Duration
2.5 days
Design
Inspired by games like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and Unrailed, The Herd encourages exploration and creative problem solving, relying on systems like the terrain types and tool abilities to broaden the player experience. With only a weekend to develop the prototype, we wanted to implement a core loop of move + shovel tool + herd.
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We wanted our game to have two distinct qualities in its design: a single multi-use tool and a teamwork strategy. Leveraging the narrative premise of our game, we settled on herding as a core mechanic performed by both players together. Additionally, the shovel tool became the device that we would shift most of the functionality of the game through.
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Highlight
The 'herding' mechanic within this game is what made it so compelling to design and fun to play. Players, wielding their multiuse shovels, can slap their shovels together, calling their herd of llamas to their position.
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As players clear terrain and explore the mountain, they'll need to regularly perform this herding ritual to ensure their llamas don't wander too far. If the llamas are allowed to stray, they can freeze and die. If all a player's llamas freeze, they lose. If players reach the golden grain at the peak of the mountain, they win.
Checkout gameplay below!
