Encore!
Designing interfaces and gameplay for a rhythm game x visual novel
Project Overview
Timeline
Sept. 2024 -
Sept. 2025
Team
23 student developers across four sub-teams
Roles
Project Lead
UI/UX Designer
Game Designer
Tools
Unity
Illustrator + Photoshop
Figma
Notion
Skills
Systems Design
UI/UX Design
UI Engineering
Project Management
Summary
“Encore!” was one of two pitches that won the pitch competition hosted by Amoriem Labs (Yale Game Developers) in Fall 2024 for the yearlong projects.
You play as a new student at an inter-dimensional music school, and you must gather a band of quirky characters, from cat bassonists to Lovecraftian saxophonists, to win Battle of the Bands! Players switch between a visual novel component, meeting characters and learning their stories, and a rhythm game component where they unlock new songs and beat high scores.
What makes rhythm games and visual novels fun?
How can we innovate upon both genres by combining the two?
Goals and Research
Seeking to innovate upon two established game genres, I took on this project with the team to create a unique experience and study the selling points of a hybrid game.
In my multiple roles on the team, I served as a bridge between four sub-teams, leading the project's creative direction and setting timelines and goals. I leveraged my knowledge in programming and design to create engaging gameplay, systems, and interfaces, both in design and in implementation.
Design Process
Ideation
Using FigJam, Notion, and Pinterest, I led the creation of sticky note boards, mind maps, and game design documents that guided the game’s later development through core principles and goals.
Referencing existing, successful games in both genres, such as Rock Band 3, Monster Prom, and DDR, the team identified key areas where these games succeed and where they could be improved.
The team identified that it is challenging to innovate on the core gameplay of most rhythm games (tapping notes to the beat). Thus, our innovation stems from the supporting systems and rules of the game.
Key Game Systems
The Spotlight System
Players can switch between characters to “spotlight” during each song play through, and the spotlighted character has different notemap (different patterns of notes) the player must hit.
Character Recruitment
The player can recruit 12 characters, each playing a different instrument, into the band. As the story progresses, the player meets more and more characters that they can try to recruit and play with by making the right choices.
Modular Music Tracks
Based on who the player picks in each rhythm gameplay segment, the music instrumentation will change. This ensures the visual novel will impact the rhythm gameplay as well.
User Flow and Game Design
Narrative Progression Flow
Player Gameplay Flow
I created flow charts that mapped the player’s journey through the game and guided my design process.
With two distinct phases and multiple modes, I iterated upon player journeys by identifying key transitions and potential bottlenecks and frustrations.
Key Questions:
How can the game reward doing well in one half of the game to the other?
How can the game link two disparate systems with a unifying design?
Answer: the chemistry system.
Chemistry is a stat that aggregates the affection values of your band. If your band chemistry does not reach the threshold, then the player cannot continue into the song. However, this system had to be constantly iterated upon, as we ran into issues while testing.
Problem
Softlocking: players can be stuck with no band with a high enough threshold, leaving them stuck with no way to progress
Solution
Flexible Floor: I led the design and implementation of a flexible chemistry floor that calculates the lowest possible chemistry, and adjusts thresholds dynamically. I also designed UI popups and wrote supporting dialogue for this mechanic.
Problem
Unclear Scoring: players were often confused why they could not progress, with sliders and UI text not indicating the mechanic clearly enough.
Solution
Intuitive UX: Surveying pain points through flow charting led me to iterate on designs that incorporated clearer popups and text while not over-explaining with too many instructions and numbers.
UI/UX Prototyping and Implementation
From first sketching out user journeys, designing wireframes and interactive prototypes, creating assets, and then programming the interfaces in Unity and C#, I saw the UI/UX process from end to end. I then collaborated with programmers to fully implement gameplay and functionality.
I designed almost every screen in the game, 8 in total. For each screen, I start by asking questions about what the users need to know.
What were the key instructions and information the user should learn from the interface?
What sorts of buttons and functionality is required for this screen?
How do they proceed to the next stage in the user flow?
What dead ends would they encounter?
What information needs to be kept hidden from the player? (eg. invisible stats, future mechanics)
These questions guided how I designed buttons, text display, and more.
Pause Screen Design Process (Sketch -> Prototype -> Implementation)
Choice Buttons Process (Figma -> Unity)
Visual Design
Creating the design guidelines for the UI, my primary concern was consistency between unique screens.
Each UI screen is unique within itself - that means, there are few repeatable components and tokens that I could use to establish a design system with the art team.
Thus, despite unique animations, layouts, and buttons, I worked on keeping a consistent style through typography, color, and movement.
Results Screen Design
Project Management
As Project Lead, I utilized Notion and Discord to organize the yearlong project, particularly using Notion's Kanban and Timeline features.
I updated documentation on Notion, providing a central source for design decisions.
As the team was a volunteer-based team, I focused on clear communication and accountability with regular check ins and deadline-based workflows.
Notion Organization Tools
Validation
Playtesting
The team released for an alpha demo release in April 2025 for feedback on the first section of the game on itch.io. We received 11 responses for the feedback survey, and further internal discussions guided summer development and refinement.
Positives
UI style and flair
Music and art direction
Narrative style and character storylines
Negatives
Unclear instructions of more complex game systems and controls
Distracting sound design
Accidental closing of menus and screens
Iterations and Refinements
Based on the playtesting feedback, I made various UX improvements to illustrate the game design systems.
A revamp of choice buttons for clarity and stylistic flair.
Warning messages to prevent accidental quitting
New popups on stats and behind-the-scenes systems and chemistry values in band select
New in-game video tutorials replacing text-based tutorials
Results
Impact
The trailer of Encore! Was submitted to the Rising Tide Challenge hosted by Blue Ocean Games, and scored at 590/1066 with more than 200,000 total votes from players all over the world.
The demo is currently playable on Itch.Io in an alpha form with 300 views and 30 plays.
Lessons Learned
Communicate clearly and facilitate discussion with care
This was my first time designing with such a large team of creative people, and I learned to incorporate various types of feedback and perspectives into my design process through active discussion, specific questions, and documenting our process.
Cohesiveness without sacrificing style and flair
"Encore!" focuses heavily on UI, with most of the game being communicated through menus and interfaces, so I learned a balance a striking style (that was popular with players!) with instruction and communication.
Next Steps
A full release of the game is slated for September 30th, in preparation for submission to the Independent Games Festival!
