Overview
Pizza Time is a game where you deliver pizzas to people during the last 15 minutes on earth. It is a first-person a narrative experience masquerading as an old-school score-attack game, where the usually abstract time limit is instead given dire consequence.
The player is given a choice between chasing down a high-score, or using their last 15 minutes to perform more fulfilling, narratively-driven side-stories.
The player is given a choice between chasing down a high-score, or using their last 15 minutes to perform more fulfilling, narratively-driven side-stories.
Development Role
Pizza Time was created over the course of 2 1/2 months as a solo development project. As the only developer, I was responsible for creating all aspects of the project.
As the developer of Pizza Time, I accomplished the following:
As the developer of Pizza Time, I accomplished the following:
- Created all base gameplay systems & behaviors in Unity, writing flexible & re-usable components to quickly prototype the game
- Wrote & revised hundreds of lines of dialogue & flavor text
- Created four unique narratively-driven sidequests for the player to complete
- Whiteboxed & tested a small and interconnected sandbox space that catered both towards the score attack and narrative quests
- Created & implemented all art assets
- Created & implemented an original 5-song score
- Developed an engaging introduction & tutorial to the game that teaches players the base mechanics as well as setting up the core narrative hook
Narrative Statement
In terms of narrative, Pizza Time is both humorous and dramatic, with themes of oppressive capitalism that are further driven home through the game’s mechanics. It is structured as two diametrically opposed games - one game where the player tries to find fulfillment in life before it ends, and the other where the player goes through the motions of a monotonous pizza delivery job.
While critiquing late-stage capitalism in the United States is not exactly a unique idea, it was something that I wanted to tackle, especially under the lens of satire. But more important than that, I wanted to create a game about finding fulfillment in life through things that “don’t matter” to a purely capitalist society - such as creating emotional connections with others, even if only in passing.
Oftentimes while testing, I would get players who would continue delivering pizzas for 2-3 minutes after learning of the impending doom, before suddenly exclaiming “Wait, why am I doing this if I’m about to die?” and proceeding to ignore the pizza-delivery aspect of the game entirely; instead engaging in the more emotionally fulfilling narratively-driven sidequests. This is exactly what I wanted to happen, and while not a 100% success rate, I’m glad that the game ended up resonating with some people enough to promote this mindset shift.
While critiquing late-stage capitalism in the United States is not exactly a unique idea, it was something that I wanted to tackle, especially under the lens of satire. But more important than that, I wanted to create a game about finding fulfillment in life through things that “don’t matter” to a purely capitalist society - such as creating emotional connections with others, even if only in passing.
Oftentimes while testing, I would get players who would continue delivering pizzas for 2-3 minutes after learning of the impending doom, before suddenly exclaiming “Wait, why am I doing this if I’m about to die?” and proceeding to ignore the pizza-delivery aspect of the game entirely; instead engaging in the more emotionally fulfilling narratively-driven sidequests. This is exactly what I wanted to happen, and while not a 100% success rate, I’m glad that the game ended up resonating with some people enough to promote this mindset shift.
Soundtrack
While not related to the design of the game, a five-song soundtrack was created by myself alongside Pizza Time's development, which you can listen to here. It consists mainly of short musical stingers that are played at certain times throughout the game.