My Role

B Corp was my graduation project, developed as part of a team of six people. I worked primarily across Game Design, Level Design and Narrative Design, collaborating with the other members throughout development.

My responsibilities included designing gameplay mechanics, characters, dialogue, minigames and level layouts. I also contributed to the game's design documentation and participated in discussions about how the different systems and narrative elements should work together.

Game Concept

The game takes place in a world where the disappearance of bees has severely affected the environment. Without bees, much of the world's fauna and flora has been negatively impacted, while society has also experienced technological regression.

The protagonist believes that bees may still exist and eventually discovers evidence that some of them survived. However, the remaining bees are being kept by the leader of a settlement, who uses them to maintain the village's power and position.

The protagonist must infiltrate the settlement, navigate through its different areas and eventually reach the castle to free the remaining bees.

Design Challenge

One of our main challenges was creating a post-apocalyptic world that felt different from more conventional interpretations of the genre.

Our professors pointed out that the theme would be particularly challenging to develop. Even so, our team decided to keep the concept and explore its potential instead of changing the core idea.

This led us to explore a world that was not simply destroyed, but one that had stopped progressing and had gradually regressed technologically.

The disappearance of bees also affected the natural environment, creating consequences for both fauna and flora and helping shape the world in which the protagonist lives.

Design Decisions

We wanted the disappearance of bees to be more than a background element. It became one of the foundations of the game's world, narrative and gameplay.

One of our initial ideas was to use bees as a gameplay resource that could assist the protagonist. However, this conflicted with the premise that bees had effectively disappeared from the world.

We therefore decided to make the remaining bees an important narrative element instead. Their existence became part of the protagonist's motivation and the central objective of the story.

Level Design

The game was divided into four main areas:

• Workers' Area
• Security Area
• Sewers
• Castle

I participated directly in the Level Design of all of these areas, working together with the other members of the team.

The game's main mechanics were introduced early in the experience. The player was gradually exposed to shooting, hacking, stealth and environmental interaction before progressing further into the game.

My Level Design contributions included working on layouts, obstacle placement and challenge design. After implementation, the programmer would test the areas and we would discuss possible improvements and adjustments.

The player had some freedom to explore the environments, although the overall experience was primarily focused on the main missions.

Gameplay & Mechanics

I contributed to the design of several gameplay mechanics intended to give the player different ways of interacting with the environment.

Shooting

The protagonist could use a weapon to defeat enemies, open paths and interact with certain puzzle elements.

Hacking

I proposed a hacking mechanic involving a small device designed in the shape of a bee. The player had to guide it from one point to another without touching electrical wires.

I designed the concept of the mechanic, while its programming and implementation were handled by another member of the team.

Item Delivery

Another gameplay interaction required the player to retrieve an item and bring it to another location. This mechanic was used as an additional form of interaction and progression within the environment.

Minigames

The project included a hacking minigame designed around the game's central bee theme.

Instead of representing hacking through a conventional computer interface, the player controlled a bee-shaped device and had to navigate it through an electrical system without touching the wires.

The goal was to provide gameplay variety while also reinforcing the connection between the game's mechanics and its main theme.

Narrative Design

I worked on the game's story, characters and dialogue.

The main characters included the protagonist, the leader of the settlement, a librarian who helped the protagonist understand the location and find information, and the protagonist's father, who primarily provided emotional support.

My work focused on developing their personalities and backstories and creating dialogue that supported the narrative and worldbuilding.

With the exception of the tutorial dialogue, the conversations were primarily focused on advancing the story and helping the player understand the world and its characters.

Final Encounter

One of the encounters I particularly enjoyed was the final fight, where the protagonist had to avoid shots from a machine while using walls as cover.

The encounter encouraged the player to pay attention to positioning and movement rather than simply focusing on attacking the enemy.

Team Collaboration

B Corp was developed by a team of six people, with responsibilities distributed according to each member's strengths.

Although I had freedom to propose and develop ideas within my areas of responsibility, I regularly discussed my decisions with my teammates and professor. This allowed us to review ideas, identify possible improvements and keep the different parts of the project connected.

This collaborative process was particularly important because different areas of the project depended on each other. Gameplay, Level Design and narrative decisions needed to work together instead of being developed independently.

What I Would Improve

If I were to continue developing B Corp, I would expand the game before the main infiltration and final sequence.

I would add more optional missions and activities within the settlement, giving players additional reasons to explore the different areas and learn more about the world.

I would also use these activities to gradually introduce and reinforce the game's mechanics before the player reaches the castle.

This would give the experience more room to develop its world, strengthen the player's connection with the protagonist's objective and make the progression feel more complete.

What I Learned

B Corp was an important experience for me because it required different areas of game development to work together. Designing mechanics, levels and narrative independently was not enough; they needed to support the same world and player experience.

The project also taught me the importance of iteration and collaboration. Even when I had an idea for a mechanic, level or narrative element, discussing it with the team and testing it helped us identify opportunities for improvement.

Most importantly, the project taught me how important it is to maintain consistency between a game's narrative premise and its gameplay. The decision to make the remaining bees part of the story rather than a common gameplay resource was one example of this approach.