Designing levels is rarely a straight path but sometimes, one level takes that to the extreme. The eighth level in our second zone became a masterclass in iteration, testing our patience, creativity, and willingness to start over (again and again). What began as a straightforward concept quickly spiraled into a cycle of endless tweaks, redesigns, and lessons learned. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how it kept evolving and what we discovered along the way.
From the very beginning, this was the most iterative level we’ve tackled so far. We must have redesigned it more times than we can count. Every time we thought the layout was final, new issues would come up during testing, leading us to make more changes and improvements.
We started with a simple structure and after finalizing the design and bringing it into Unity, we thought we were done. But, surprise! Playtesting hit us with reality.
One of the early challenges was our tree glue mechanic. It sounded great on paper, but technical limitations held us back. So we swapped it out for a mushroom bounce pad, simpler, more reliable, and just as fun. Similarly, we initially planned to use a horizontal wooden stem that would break when both characters stood on it. However, we realized it might not clearly convey to players that it was breakable with two characters, so we replaced it with a broken bridge, offering better visual feedback and a more dynamic gameplay element.
We also changed the level end portal’s position multiple times. No matter where we placed it, it just didn’t feel right until the very end. And don’t get us started on that one gate, we added it to increase challenge, but it ended up trapping one player while the other could move ahead freely.
Not ideal. So, that had to go through several design adjustments too.
Even smaller elements like boulder, and switches needed tweaking. We kept asking ourselves, “What if the player does this instead?” and then watched as they did exactly that and broke the flow entirely. But that’s what made the level special. Every tweak, every frustrating redo made the level tighter, more polished, and way more enjoyable. It’s the kind of chaotic creativity that makes game dev a wild ride.
So next time you play this level, remember: behind every bounce, trap, and portal lies a mountain of trial, error, and far too many “final” builds.
Through all the revisions, failed experiments, and "final" versions, we came out with a level that's not only fun to play but stronger because of the journey it took to get there.
Till next time.
Playdew Team
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1752540/Lost_Twins_2/