Cat Game Level Design Basics

If you are laying out your first level, four things matter far more than everything else. This is the short version; the longer treatment is in our full level design guide.

1. Measure the character first

You cannot place a gap until you know what can be crossed. Before drawing anything, work out the maximum jump height, the time in the air and the maximum jump distance from a run. Write them down.

Then design to about 85% of those figures rather than 100%. A gap at the character's absolute limit will fail regularly for reasons the player cannot perceive, which reads as an unreliable game rather than a demanding one.

2. Introduce one thing at a time

Each new element gets its own introduction in a place where failing costs nothing, then a test where it costs something, then a combination with something already known.

The commonest beginner mistake is going straight to the combination. The section is not too hard in itself - the player has simply never seen the parts separately, so they are learning two things while failing at both. It reads as unfair even when it is entirely survivable.

3. Pace it

Alternate demanding sections with easy stretches. The easy parts are not filler: they are where the player recovers concentration, and they make the difficult parts feel difficult by contrast.

A useful rule of thumb is no more than about twenty seconds of sustained demand before something gentle. Beyond that, players stop improving and start making tired mistakes, which teaches them nothing.

4. Test with someone who is not you

Your own judgement of your level is unreliable, because you know every solution. You cannot un-know the route, and so you cannot feel what a first encounter is like.

Watch one other person play it without saying anything. Where they hesitate is where your signposting is unclear. Where they fail repeatedly is where your difficulty is wrong. Twenty minutes of watching is worth more than any amount of solitary tweaking.

Quick reference: things that make a level feel unfair

• A hazard below a drop the player cannot see before committing.
• A jump requiring 100% of the character's range.
• Two new elements introduced at once.
• A checkpoint placed after the hard part instead of before it.
• A collectible that is visible but genuinely unreachable.
• Punishing the player for exploring off the main route.

Quick reference: cheap ways to make a level better

• Put a collectible on the arc of the intended jump - it teaches silently.
• Widen the landing platform on the hardest jump by twenty pixels.
• Add a checkpoint immediately before anything you failed twice while building.
• Cut the section you find boring; it will be worse for everyone else.
• Make the level's hardest moment its last, so it ends on a high point.

Key Takeaways

• Measure jump height and distance before you draw anything, and design to 85% of them.
• Teach, test, then combine. Never introduce two new things at once.
• Alternate demand with recovery; the easy stretches are doing real work.
• Watch someone else play - your own judgement is compromised by knowing the answers.
• The cheapest improvements are a wider landing, a checkpoint, and a collectible marking the route.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a level be?

Three to eight minutes on a first attempt for a browser game. Long enough to have a shape, short enough to finish in one sitting.

Should I generate levels or design them?

Design them if the game has an ending, generate them if it is endless. A designer who has played every jump can be precise in ways a generator cannot.

How many mechanics per level?

One new one, ideally. Two if the second is a variation of the first.

Where do checkpoints go?

Immediately before anything you expect to be failed more than once. Never after.

How do I know the difficulty is right?

You do not, from playing it yourself. Watch someone else - that is the only reliable test.