Before @CakeBashLaura nailed the art direction on @PlayCakeBash, my sketches/designs for characters and environments were significantly less adorable!

Here's a thread documenting some of the more weird and interesting pre-production/mid-prod #gamedev Cake Bash doodles! 1/21

The very first doodle I ever did was in my A5 pad, for a brawler called "Delicious", where cakes would fight to be as delicious as possible.

Note the sugar/oil machine in the background that the others unaffectionately called "the weird uterus thing". 2/21

From there we briefly called it "Tasty Cakes" (Delicious is a bit of a naff name).

"Doughy" was the first character I drew, but I experimented with pun characters like "Attila the Bun".

I think Laura's Cake Bash cast is a LOT more charismatic now, don't you think? 3/21

For a while, players could enter 3 states - "gross", "tasty", or "deeelish!" - which as I note, is a mechanical setup nicked from Parappa the Rapper (with your presence changing depending on how tasty you were). However, it just wasnt fun being "gross", so it got cut. 4/21

We also decided to look into what levels might look and play like, so thought of a few "hooks" - trying to climb up a chocolate volcano, or building S'mores in a tiny factory.

However, the team agreed it felt better to be grounded in reality - and those rules were set! 5/21

With the idea that everything had to take place in the "real" world, all my subsequent designs took place in real places which could both amplify or ruin a cake's edibleness! One of these, "Coastal Chaos", became Laura's gorgeously-modelled beach in the final game.

6/21

I had a ZILLION ideas for stage hazards... 7/21

And amongst them, the idea of tormenting hermit crabs seemed really popular (sickos), and so this made it into the final game! 8/21

I still maintain that the crab was the most fun thing in the game to #animate. Look at him go! 9/21

Even the logo had 30+ concepts, including a grotesque "killed by mallet" one. What was I thinking?!

The final one was WAY nicer (thanks for making one without cake entrails, Laura). 10/21

In the earlier search for game types, there were plenty of dud ideas, but the mechanics behind Cake Topper and Truffle Scuffle paved the way for Bakewell Ballet and Sparkler in the final game! 11/21

Here are some more generic stage hazards. 12/21

Character select and UI placement notes. Notice how I called the muffin "Muffy", a name which makes me snort. I'm 36. 13/21

Some notes for the trailer. Laura did a phenomenal job of filming the first ever announcement trailer - I can't fault it. @dBXYLevi's music is just the icing on the... well, you know. 14/21

Some more ideas for minigames! Fondue Skewer became Fondue or Die in the final release! 15/21

Some game mode icons ideas (unused). Icons aren't my strong suit, which is odd given I used to work in #uidesign. 16/21

Some level select icon ideas (unused). 17/21

Before the buying phase in the mode "Get Tasty" was called "Topping Shopping", I drafted up this "Sweet Tooth or Dare" drawing where you could dress up in front of mirrors.

"Sweet Tooth or Dare" is a truly abysmal effort and honestly I deserve sterilisation. 18/21

Speaking of Get Tasty, the mode's delightful "Perfect Cake" mascot character could have been anything from a beautiful model cake, to a rockstar... or my favourite, the thieving imposter who makes you THINK it's beautiful, but is really just out to nick your toppings! 19/21

I counted up almost 400 unique sketches over the space of Cake Bash's #indiedev development, and I'm glad that the others had the patience to listen to most of my utterly inane ideas (and often, sensibly, avoid most of the more nutty ones). 20/21

I'm proud to have been a part of the Cake Bash journey - the others in the @PlayCakeBash team are stunningly talented - and I think that's clear to see!

If you fancy seeing any more stuff like this for Cake Bash or other games I've worked on, let me know! 21/21