This piece was originally found in my college UX portfolio. It is up as a memento of earlier days

What was Fat Cloudy

Fat Cloudy was an iOS and Android HTML5 game developed and released sometime in 2014. The player is a cloud with an appetite whom protects their island from the scheming King Cloudy. A lingua franca tale of the hungry vs evil.

2018 Reflection

The game saw several updates, an expanded fan base, but alas has now retired. Fat Cloudy need not save his island any longer as it is quite secure. King Cloudy having suffered being eaten enough times decided the island was not worth the digestive problem.

It was incredible to see it grow in it’s time, especially with close friends like Corey Callan. He still wants a sequel to play on the loo - which I hope to provide when time allows. It was fun to see the game played en masse in corners of my Fraternities house parties. I promise these events weren’t so boring, but indicative of Fat Cloudy’s addictive veil within my circles.

As the creator of the title, I was jovial to find players whom were better than I at the game. A friend of mine managed to trump Fat Cloudy’s hard mode in under 50 seconds. A feat I don’t think was ever replicated and surely not by me.

Worldcup 2014 Trailer

Here we are in the 2018 World Cup before France vs Croatia and I celebrate with Fat Cloudy’s 2014 World Cup trailer. Originally during this period, I released a special skin for Fat Cloudy in celebration of the international affair.

The following discourse constitues the original article from my UX portfolio.

More Mobile

Mobile design begs for prioritization. Fat Cloudy needed an absolute focus that a user was geared towards. Given it was to be a mobile video game with Ads for monetization, a simple ‘Funnel’ model (view below) was developed to capture imperative touch points and focus the mediums experience. My deducted object of focus was in emphasizing user retention through addictive gameplay.

Competitive Inspiration

The mobile game arena is saturated in both shovelware and quality content. The latter of which I was shameless in mimicking. Fat Cloudy’s gameplay and monetization strategy was heavily influenced by 2013’s cultural phenomenon, ‘Flappy Bird’. It’s approach to tutorials was inspired by ‘Angry Birds’, psuedo-infinite structure by ‘Subway Surfer’ and with the visual zen of ‘Blek’.

Mobile Leverage

Fat Cloudy was designed for touch in it’s utilization of signifiers for affordances and as well in it’s digestible immersion. One could simply one-handedly cycle through a few games on a crowded and bumpy bus in Jackson, Mississippi and be attentive enough to external events. This on-the-go play is simply how the title was meant to work and would be dumbfounded on any other platform.

Race to the Bottom

This type of B2C application would be DOA for 0.99 cents given the industries ease of entry and high threat of substitution, which among others things, grants independent developers like myself a negligible bargaining power with buyers if a Porter’s Five Forces model was consulted. Conclusively my app required a design that maximized unobtrusive Ads. Fat Cloudy’s answer was in it’s ‘Galaga’ meets ‘Brick Breaker’ gameplay which provided well for retaining casual gamers.

Rapid Fire Cycles

Following ‘Race to the Bottom’ above, I developed a model (seen below) that summates Fat Cloudy’s ‘Rapid Fire Win/Lose Cycle’. A gameplay cycle of which mirrors aforementioned ‘Flappy Bird’.

Usability Analysis

In the MVP iteration of Fat Cloudy, the above models were tested. Mods were made for the app’s navigational signifiers. The original icon-based layout became text buttons in version 1.5 (pictured below). The traditional style was more intuitive in guiding user’s through the Gameplay Funnel (above). This doubly improved user’s ‘first date’ with the app.

Maintenance

Post-release quantitative data collected via a platform, called Appformative, suggested cycles could be more rapid. An obstacle within the game was the lack of a ‘restart’ button upon a loss. The data, further usability examinations and common sense made indicative of a need for such a control. Another cycle steroid came in the form of ‘Daily Rewards’ and a ‘Point Bank’ that allowed one to revive their avatar with all points kept. The improvements quadrupled player cycles.

Conclusion

The contrast to “more mobile” is entropy and a lack of platform leverage. Baby Cloudy, the original title in the video game series (see trailer below), left too much opportunity for things user’s didn’t know they didn’t know. Mobile design prioritizes tasks and fixates themselves around that common goal. This approach accommodates the array of screens produced for mobile computing and an expected ease of use intended for touch devices that function more as an extension of one’s self than an obstacle. Fat Cloudy works off of the above.

Takeaway

I learned that deeper research earlier on would have saved this project from a few missteps. It is a lesson that has since informed post-projects. However Fat Cloudy was completed and is something I am proud of.

The Past

Below is Baby Cloudy’s trailer. It’s here for nostalgic purposes.