User Interface and User Experience Designer // 2019 // Coming Soon to Android and iOS
Designed to be Played Your Way
Kingdom maker is a massive multiplayer/medieval/fantasy/strategy/mobile experience that blends war, love, money, building, adventure, and politics as players strive to conquer the land with their empires. With thousands of unique actions, players essentially have the ability to play the game however they choose.
The game was designed from the beginning to include a lot of moving parts but as development continued we kept finding and creating exciting new ways to interact with the world. Managing the massive amount of information and options available to the player required a comprehensive approach. Ruling the trade market, controlling your soldiers in combat, or playing out your family’s stories are all very different mechanics but it was important to maintain a consistent and simple control system.
To solve this we designed a user interface that provided focus on the main five options in any scenario at the bottom of the screen as part of the heads up display and allowed for additional interaction by tapping on the world. Tapping on an object in the world would pull up a radial menu with additional actions. These two systems kept the screen clean and uncluttered while providing easy access to core options in a comfortable to reach space.
Love, Hate, and Sabotage
Players create and grow custom characters in their family, which they can direct to interact with other families across the realm. By engaging in deep romances, seething rivalries, or sneakily playing both sides, a player can strengthen their empire’s power.
Interactions between family members were designed as expanding conversation trees that give players a wide range of options. The interface design for this needed to make the information quick and easy to understand. By assigning colors to different intentions or emotions, we provided clearer information for players.
Run the Markets
Players can squeeze their opponents by controlling resources and the trade market. Finding, buying, or creating items can increase the stats of family members. Items can also be upgraded, traded, sold, or leveraged to gain more power. This complicated game mechanic required a strict use of color and information hierarchy the kept the information clear and absorbable.
Go Medieval
When nothing else works, players can forcefully move their enemies out of the way but attacking people with allies will give you nothing but trouble. We designed a large combat control system that allows for friends or foes to join any battlefield to aid or disrupt the fight. This design makes every battle exciting and encourages diplomacy and alliances.
Customization Everywhere
Players can build their cities any way they want, but should be diligent about protecting citizens and keeping them happy. Players have full control of the visual appearance of their family members, family crest, and alliance banner to make everything their own.
Alliances and Communities
Alliances are very important to players’ success – providing players with the means to communicate with their alliance members was paramount to the success of the game. Players can send 1:1 messages, group chats, keep alliance secrets, or shout out to the world.
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