Overview
About Pas de Deux
Pas de Deux is a silly cooperative rhythm game with a less-than-graceful ballerina, quite an unruly audience, and a set that could go up in flames at any minute! Two players must work together, each controlling one half of the ballerina whilst trying to keep the audience entertained.
This game was made over the course of 10 weeks as the McGill University submission for the 2025 edition of the Ubisoft Game Lab Competition. Our team consisted of myself as the designer, three artists, and four programmers and we had to create a game under the design and theme constraints of the competition. Out of 26 competing games, we won the Jury's Choice Award for creating the most fun and enjoyable game.
Responsibilities
Designer Tasks
- 01 Designed the core game loop, the controls, and the split co-op mechanics
- 02 Worked with artists to define the artistic direction of the game and UI
- 03 Ran public playtests and utilized feedback to iterate on UX and balance
- 04 Developed significant amounts of documentation in the form of formal design documents, spreadsheets, and vision boards
- 05 Created unique theming, visuals, lighting, and level designs for 5 different playable songs
- 06 Designed the rhythm and input management systems and collaborated with programmers to implement it
- 07 Drew wireframes of HUD in Procreate and made UI mockups in Figma and iterated on designs extensively to ensure good flow and feel for players
Programmer Tasks
- 01 Created technical diagrams outlining the software architecture for the gameplay mechanics and how the input, object, and point system must work together
- 02 Merged all individual systems developed by programmers together, adjusting code and fixing merge conflicts
- 03 Delved into code to fix bugs and refine implementations of mechanics, tools, and UI
Management Tasks
- 01 Created a production schedule using Agile methodologies and ensured deadlines were met, while continually adjusting the schedule and development plan when delays occurred
- 02 Ran weekly scrum-style team meetings to plan sprints, organize tasks, and solve any issues
- 03 Gained experience with the entire cycle of game development, from pre-production all the way to gold master
Gameplay