Overview
Colotron started as a university project for a programming course, but I kept improving upon it. Although it was my first attempt at coding a game completely on my own, I didn’t just want to make another platformer, I needed a core mechanic that makes room for versatile design. That’s how I came up with a color-swapping ability. The player can change the avatar’s color and can only interact with platforms and objects of the same color.
A key challenge of this project was creating a short game that still had a simple but coherent narrative and an emerging difficulty curve.
Technical aspects
I built Colotron in Unity using C# with a tilemap grid system to design the levels. I rendered the player character’s sprite and animations from an isometric side view in Blender, and I added outlines in post-processing to better suit the visual aesthetic of the tileset I was using.
I used collision layers to manage interactions between the player and platforms. Each platform type is assigned a specific layer, allowing the player to collide only with matching colors.
Design
Colotron’s level design is inspired by the early stages of Metroidvanias, focusing on teaching basic movement before introducing the color-swapping mechanic. Players have to master this ability to progress and unlock the final dash skill. I designed maps that show currently unreachable areas to motivate players to keep going. I first created a clear golden path to guide them, then experimented with different layouts to add variety and a sense of discovery.
When designing the difficulty curve, I paid close attention to how long it takes to master each new ability. Every challenge build on the previous one to gradually add complexity without overwhelming the player. I played around a lot with different pacings to create a flow where learning feels natural and fun.
