BEAST BEATS

INSPIRATION

Beast Beats was born from my desire to fuse the tactical depth of tower defense with the high-energy, infectious flow of rhythm games. My creative process is deeply connected to music, I’m constantly tapping to the beat in my car, which led me to wonder how that physical rhythm could drive game mechanics. The band members were directly inspired by my own pets, Rocky the Chihuahua and Apollo the cat. While I couldn't use both names for branding reasons, they are the heartbeat of the game's personality. My goal is to build an experience where music isn't just background noise, but the power source that lets players unleash epic abilities on stage.

WHAT IT DOES

The game features a unique hybrid mechanic that challenges players to defend their stage against waves of fans while also engaging in high-intensity rhythm sequences. By hitting beats in sync with the (AI music) track, players trigger "power solos" that unleash character-specific abilities. It is a strategic, musical experience designed from the ground up for mobile accessibility.

HOW WE BUILT IT

It started with downloading and playing numerous Tower Defense games to see what I thought was a hurdle during the onboarding or play process, or was simply not engaging to keep my attention. It was an awful lot of tweaking things in Canva and numerous Google Sheets to organize my thoughts, as well as an extremely chaotic digital whiteboard. My partner in crime for the thinking process was Gemini.

I’ve established a "cute and silly" animal-themed aesthetic for the enemies fans to keep the vibe inviting and vibrant, moving away from traditional, darker monsters but allowing the rock stars to bring some of the edge to the screen.

There is a dual-layered UI; the main core loop goes from a 1-5 lane vertical system for tower defense strategy, while the second loop provides a 3-lane for high-intensity rhythm mini-games to ensure mobile compatibility.

CHALLENGES WE RAN INTO

This was my second project concept, after building a basic MVP of the first one I found it too complicated. Building something engaging yet simple with a unique twist did take some brainstorming.

UI/UX Optimization: Designing a complex game for a vertical screen is a significant challenge; I've had to carefully map out interaction zones to keep them reachable without cluttering the visuals. During my play testing, a phone held in a horizontal format quickly cause hand strain as my hands were too small to reach the buttons, so even though I wanted to play, I chose not to. So a vertical format was mandatory for long play times.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT WE'RE PROUD OF

Stepping out of my comfort level into an unfamiliar genre.
Avoiding scope creep and staying focused on the MVP and deferring to subsequent phases.
Embedding a new surprise mechanic into a tower defense, while also being a hybrid with a RPG simulation.

WHAT WE LEARNED

What makes a game enjoyable to play
Importance of accessibility in mobile gaming
The value and methods of properly planning a project, and developing a game development, player journey map and production plan.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR BEAST BEATS

To move from the planning phase to development and reach a playable state, the next milestones include:

Prototype Core Mechanics: Finalize the integration between the rhythm-based mini-game engine and the tower defense state machine.
Asset Production: Begin drafting character and enemy sprites based on the aesthetic, specifically focusing on the rock star animations that trigger during "power solos.
UI/UX Refining: Complete mockups of every screen. Conduct usability testing on the vertical layout on a phone instead of a mockup to ensure the action buttons remains comfortable for various hand sizes during extended play sessions.
Content Balancing: Finalize the map of the first 15 levels including waves and setting to establish a consistent difficulty curve that supports both the strategy and simulation elements of the game.