CONCEPT
For my midterm project, I am planning to create an active, time-management puzzle game where the player must balance quick math with physical character movement. The goal is to hang exactly 10 pieces of clothing on a clothesline before the 1:30 timer runs out, without exceeding the line’s strict weight limit. The player’s character can hang clothes in the backyard for up to 1:30 minutes, but she must carefully manage the weight on the line because it can carry only up to 25 grams.
The player will not know in advance which piece of clothing they will get from the laundered clothes basket. Each piece has a different weight: hoodies weigh 4 grams, pants 3 grams, shirts and shorts 2 grams, and tank tops 1 gram. If the player is unsure, they can temporarily place a piece of clothing in the “for later” basket. However, this basket can only hold up to 6 pieces of clothing, and once items are placed there, they cannot be accessed again until later.
I also plan to integrate a rain effect in the middle of the game, adding another layer of challenge. At a certain point, the player will receive a 10-second warning to pick up the laundered basket and move to a shaded area somewhere on the screen. If they fail to do so, every piece of clothing will gain an extra +1 gram. If the total weight on the line exceeds 25 grams, the line will snap, and the player will have to start over.
DESIGN
I first designed my concept in Canva so I could actually see what the game would look like. I started with the intro page, then the instructions page, 
and finally worked on the game UI itself. I found a background on Pinterest and added some extra elements from Canva to make it look more complete. I struggled a bit at first with how to design the game UI because I wasn’t sure how everything would fit together, but after trying different layouts, I finally got it to work. I also asked Claude to help me generate different game maps, which gave me a bunch of ideas and styles. Looking at those really helped me figure out what I liked and guided me in deciding the final layout for the game.
UNCERTAIN PART
One of the uncertainties in this game is the rain part. Without the rain, players could win more easily, which is why I want to include it to add more challenge. However, the rain event is complicated to implement because it interrupts the normal gameplay for about 40 to 50 seconds and requires multiple conditions to work at the same time. During this event, the player needs to drag the basket and hold it while walking, but the basket movement should only be allowed within a 10 second timer. At the same time, the system also needs to add +3g to the clothesline weight. The most confusing part for me is adding +1g to all remaining basket items if they are not placed in the shade.
I think this part requires careful state management, such as handling dragging, carrying, placing, walking, and temporarily locking or allowing actions, along with proper timing so that nothing breaks, overlaps, or conflicts during the rain event.
REDUCING RISK
To reduce the risk, the controls during the rain event will be simplified. The player will press the spacebar to pick up the laundered basket and use the arrow keys to move the character. Once the rain starts, +3g will be added to the clothesline weight, making it unavailable, so the player will no longer be able to hang clothes. Instead, the player just needs to move to the shaded area with the basket and wait there until the rain stops.
The part I am still unsure about is how to add +1g to each clothing item if they are not placed in the shade. If this becomes too complicated to implement, I will simplify the mechanic. Instead of adding +1g to each clothing item inside the basket, I will just add an extra +2g to the total weight. If that still does not work well, another option is to change the setup so that the laundered clothes are already placed in the shaded area. In that case, the player’s task would simply be to carry the clothes from the shaded area to the clothesline and hang them once the rain stops.