8-Bit Blitz
Speedrunning Platformer | PC | Unreal Engine 5
8-Bit Blitz is a fast-paced speedrunner platformer inspired by Cyber Hook, built around momentum-based movement and speedrunning. Players use grappling, dashing, wall-running, and other traversal mechanics to maintain speed while navigating challenging obstacle courses filled with hazards and split-second decisions.
Overview
Early MVP
My Role
During this three-month project, I worked alongside two other Game Designers to develop 8-Bit Blitz. My primary responsibilities included designing and implementing player abilities and movement mechanics such as the Dash, Fast Fall, Time Slow, and Death & Respawn systems. I also created the core level design toolkit, including reusable block functionality and Black Hole mechanics, developed the game's UI menus and save system, and designed the majority of the game's levels, focusing on delivering fluid, momentum-driven gameplay that embodied the project's core design pillars.
Full Gameplay
Abilities
The core design goal was to create a movement system that embodied speed, momentum, and player freedom. Every ability was designed to complement the others, allowing players to chain movement mechanics together to maintain flow and discover creative traversal techniques.
Grapple Hook
The Grapple Hook served as the game's primary traversal mechanic, allowing players to rapidly pull themselves toward surfaces, maintain momentum, and navigate levels from multiple angles.
Dash
Dash instantly propels the player in the direction they are facing, resetting previous momentum to provide precise aerial control. The ability recharges on a short cooldown, encouraging strategic use during traversal.
Fast Fall
Fast Fall rapidly drives the player toward the ground while the input is held. Releasing the ability launches the player back upward, restoring their double jump and creating opportunities for advanced movement. Players can also steer while descending to avoid obstacles, and when combined with the Grapple Hook, Fast Fall enables powerful slingshot maneuvers that launch players to greater heights.
Time Slow
Time Slow temporarily reduces the flow of time, giving players greater control during complex platforming sequences. While active, it also extends the Grapple Hook's range, opening new traversal routes and allowing players to recover from difficult situations.
Level Design
I contributed heavily to the level design and gameplay implementation of 8-Bit Blitz, creating multiple levels and developing many of the reusable Level Actors used throughout the project. This included core block functionality, triggers, anomaly mechanics, and several level management systems.
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I built multiple manager Blueprints, including an Audio Manager for audio settings, a Master Manager for level setup, saving, level start/end logic, and manager coordination, and a Time Manager for the speedrun timer. I also created trigger systems that activated gameplay events in the world, such as spawning objects, modifying anomaly behavior, and controlling level interactions.
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In addition to level construction, I designed and implemented the game's Anomaly mechanics: Black Holes, White Holes, and Grey Holes. These systems gave level designers flexible tools for creating traversal challenges, hazards, and momentum-based gameplay scenarios.
Block Types
I created multiple block types that served as the foundation for the game's platforms, obstacles, and traversal challenges. Much of 8-Bit Blitz's gameplay was built around interacting with these blocks in different ways, encouraging players to quickly read the environment and choose the correct movement ability.
Each block color had a unique function. Blue blocks allowed players to grapple, yellow blocks could not be grappled, red blocks killed the player on contact, purple blocks could be grappled but were still lethal, green blocks had to be shot, and orange blocks required the player to dash through them. I also created transparent variants that preserved each block's core behavior while allowing players to see or move through them depending on the block type.
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These blocks were implemented using object tags and supporting logic within the Grapple Hook and player ability systems, allowing each block type to communicate unique gameplay rules while remaining reusable across levels.
Trigger
I created a trigger that activated gameplay events within the level, such as spawning blocks, revealing paths, or starting Anomaly behavior like Black Hole expansion. These triggers allowed levels to change dynamically.
Anomalies
Of all the mechanics I worked on for 8-Bit Blitz, the Anomalies were my favorite to create. They were designed as modular gameplay objects that could affect both the player and movable blocks, giving level designers flexible tools for building traversal challenges, hazards, and puzzle-like encounters.​
​Black Hole
Pulls nearby objects and the player toward its center. Once objects reach the center, they are destroyed. For movable blocks, the Black Hole can optionally shrink them as they are pulled in. Its pull strength, object effects, growth behavior, and shrink settings are all configurable through Blueprint parameters.​
White Hole
Functions as the inverse of the Black Hole, pushing blocks and the player away from its center.
Grey Hole
Spawns blocks and pushes them in a chosen direction. The spawned block type, size, direction, and behavior can all be configured through Blueprint settings, making it a reusable tool for level design and gameplay variation.
My favorite part of the Anomaly mechanic was its ability to dynamically grow in size. I wanted to create moments where players had to outrun an expanding Black Hole while nearby obstacles were pulled into the void around them. The videos below document my progress as I developed and iterated toward that gameplay goal.
