Unfortuna is an original remake of the classic tabletop game Fortuna (aka Bagatelle), made in 6 weeks at Aalto University Game Design and Production MA course.
Published in itch.io, the game is available for Windows, Mac and it’s also playable in browser:
Credits:
Virpi Väinölä
Art direction, 2D assets, animation, VFX, UI & graphic design
magu
Programming
Nils Qvis
2D assets, animation, sound design, SFX
The brief for Unfortuna was to mechanically copy a game, and thus it is based on a table game called Fortuna, or Bagatelle.
Our goal was to create thematically cohesive and interesting visuals on top of the classic yet plain game, so I decided to twist the name around and do something fun using traditional omens of bad luck as our imagery – the visual direction was heavily inspired by skate-punk.
As our version drew inspiration from mechanical games, I wanted to implement a diegetic UI. We utilised the traditional affordance of a pull-string on a rope that operates the launching mechanism for the marbles. We also animated it falling at the start of the game as an additional visual cue to attract the player and suggest it should be pulled, thus highlighting its functionality without the use of text or tutorials. A hand shaped cursor completes the list of cues for this mechanic.
The Visual Guidelines I created for Unfortuna
UI design for the high score screen, displayed after the level is over.
Button stage (default, hover, on-click) designs for Unfortuna.
Particle VFX effects act as visual feedback when the player hits a hole with a certain score. Made using Unity’s particle system.
We aimed for a snappy game feel and audiovisual feedback when the marbles hit objects or went to the holes. We achieved this with satisfying sounds and puffs of smoke that change according to the amount of rewarded points.
The cat is animated to give the player feedback on the force they are exerting. When the rope is pulled, an audio cue that changes pitch indicates the force in tandem with the cat animation.
Two stages of the cat animation, designed to give the player visual feedback when pulling the rope to launch the ball.
Examples of the I logotype created and animated for Unfortuna:
VIRPI VÄINÖLÄ 