The Secret Ingredient That Made Mr. Pain a Hit: Game Juice!
by Süleyman Süzen / Senior Technical Game Artist
What is game juice?

Game juice, AKA game feel, is a combination of immersive response, input, and aesthetic tweaks that give players a larger sense of satisfaction, power, and control over their experience. There’s tons of it in Mr. Pain, but what’s exactly the juice in this game?

Ragdoll Mechanics

Adding physics to every bone of the enemy resulted in more natural movements and a more engaging experience. Throwing enemies around and seeing them wiggle is part of the fun!

LookAt Function

We used Unity’s LookAt function on the main character’s head so it always follows the objects controlled with the gravity gun. This small change added a whole lot of life to the character and created a more engaging experience.

X-Ray Vision

Taking inspiration from AAA fighting games, we added an X-ray effect to enhance the feeling of reward from hurting the enemies. You can see damage happen in real time, and thanks to body parts taking it separately, it’s always a unique experience!

Camera Tricks

Using zoom-ins and slow motion to exaggerate the effect of seeing the enemies shatter in X-ray vision, we created a more impactful (and truly juicy) visual experience for players. This way they can enjoy the results of their successful actions even more.

Bang!

Using a comic-style asset pack, we added the bang effect to all boxing glove obstacles, contributing to the overall cartoon feel of Mr. Pain’s hyper-casual game art.

Particles

We used particles to enhance a wide variety of actions in the game. Particles are a tested way to improve the game feel, make the experience more rewarding, and enhance positive feedback. Tip: when adding particles, make sure to not overcrowd the visuals!

Unexpected Interactions

The laser-proof enemies can’t be directly interacted with, but we combined shield sound, text, and particles to increase the output and juice up the experience. This way we also imply the rules of the game without giving any direct instructions.

Varied Swipe Requirements

To engage players even more, we introduced a slightly higher speed requirement to their swipe needed to crash the brick walls. Relating game mechanics to real-world physics created a more immersive and satisfying experience for players.

Diverse Animations

Based on their real-life experiences, players expect to see different outputs from different obstacles, and that’s what we gave them by diversifying effects to suit different obstacles. Repetitiveness hurts retention, so adding a variety of feedbacks is crucial.

Sound Effects

We chose appropriate sound effects for all game interactions to engage all senses of the player and maximize the overall impact. With a carefully chosen sample pack, adding an audio output is easy, but its impact on the players’ satisfaction is great. 

See It for Yourself

All this added game juice made Mr. Pain one of those games that make you feel like a badass! Download Mr. Pain and try it yourself:

iOS

Android

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