Match Quest

All code and graphics by Richard Davey

Match Quest

Genre: puzzle / memory
Released: 16th February 2008

Click here to play this game

About

This game was written for the Shaun the Sheep web site. It was my first ever AS3 game. The object of the game is simple - click the cards to reveal them, and get rid of the matching pairs. Try to complete the entire level within the time limit. You get a small increase of time when you match a pair.

Pros

  • The game features 3 different sets of cards, with increasing levels of complexity.
  • There are 20 levels to work through, including ‘breather’ levels to give the player a rest.
  • The “speed bonus” is activated if you match cards quickly enough.
  • I was very pleased with the main menu. The clouds were hand-drawn in Photoshop. The game logo again created in Photoshop using the Shinycore Path Styler Pro plugin with a custom preset.
  • The level settings are all XML based, allowing me to create extra levels with just Notepad.
  • The pre-loader features another game, MiniVaders, which you can play while the game loads!
  • I love the “Gameboy” intro sequence I created - subtle, but effective. The 8-bit style Aardman logo was drawn by a good friend of mine, Peter Jovanovic.

Cons

  • The game is large (2.2MB in size) which is too big for a game of this type. This is mostly down to the use of large alpha channelled PNGs (the lovely looking clouds for example eat up a huge chunk of space)
  • There is no music or sound effects
  • I didn’t have time for a “Congratulations” screen if someone finishes the final level.

Development Trivia

  • The colour scheme used in the game logo comes directly from Diddy Kong Racing on the Nintendo 64!
  • The “space invader” sprites in the pre-loader game were all hand drawn by me and originally meant to be half the size they actually are, but the game was too hard to play on high-res monitors!