The Big Idea

When prompted to come up with a game pitch for UNCC Charlotte's Game Studio course, the cap stone class for the Game Design & Development Certificate Program, we on Team NoSolution decided to come up with a game premise that would be fun, easily accessible to gamers of all ages or gender, and would have lots of replayability.

Thus, Usagi no Sakka (Bunny Soccer) is born!

Core Concepts

Backyard Soccer: At its core, Usagi no Sakka is fundamentally a game about backyard soccer: The rules are fast and loose, and the bottom line is just having fun. Oh yeah, and there are bunnies. Even though the ball is roughly as big as they are, they still play hard for the win!

Shenanigans: Another fundamental element at the heart of Usagi no Sakka are the Shenanigans. A Shenanigan is basically a tool that allows the player to bend the rules a tad (just a tad), and pull off some crazy maneuver that gives them a momentary edge. For instance, your bunny might pickup a speed carrot, which obviously gives you a speed boost. A Power carrot gives your kicks more punch. You might even knock some other bunnies down with the ball! You might even go so far as to be extremely inconsiderate, and throw a bear trap onto the field. Oh nos!

Single or Multiplayer Fun: Another important aspect of Usagi no Sakka is the fact that the game is designed from the start to be a fully functional single player game. However, the real fun is getting together with your buddies and playing a one off match against each other, or form your own team and take on the AI in a full blown tournament. Usagi no Sakka is, at it's heart, a fun, easy to play party game that facilitates cooperative gameplay, or a good old fashioned grudge match!

The Engineering Process

Meanwhile, we're learning all about game development using Microsoft's XNA Framework, using a tried and true software engineering process, and experiencing the lifecycle of a game title from start to finish. Game development requires a great deal of dedication and hard work, but I don't think you'll find anyone on our team that would rather being doing anything else with their time!