What is Smeeze Saves Cheese?
Smeeze Saves Cheese is a fun, adventurous mobile game that combines simple yet engaging gameplay with a strong and memorable brand identity. The game follows Smeeze, a brave character on a mission to save cheese in a cosmic setting. As the sole artist and designer, I created all branding, assets, and UI elements, while my sister handled programming. Our goal was to develop a distinct and playful identity around the game as it launched into its beta stage, ensuring it had a strong visual presence and a clear personality.
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Branding
The branding for Smeeze Saves Cheese was designed to be bold, futuristic, and fun. The logo reflects this by incorporating an adventurous and space-like aesthetic, with the word "Cheese" cleverly designed to look like actual cheese. This helped reinforce the playful and lighthearted theme of the game.
We chose a complementary color palette of purples and yellows, aligning with the game's space setting and cheese theme. The yellow highlights the cheese elements, while the purple gives a cosmic, adventurous feel. Typography was kept simple and legible for easy reading, but we had fun with the logo to maintain a sense of excitement and uniqueness.
Character & Game Art
Smeeze, the main character, is based on my dog Oswald, a Saint Bernard with the nickname "Smeeze." The goal was to create a simple and cute character that players would love. We kept all graphics flat, colorful, and easy to read on small screens to ensure accessibility and clarity.
The game’s background features colorful planets, reinforcing the space adventure theme. The art style is fun and playful while maintaining a clear and consistent design across all elements.
UI / UX
The menu was designed to be straightforward and self-explanatory, making it easy for players to navigate. Since the game is still in beta, we kept the interface minimal but effective, ensuring that players could access everything they needed on one screen.
Beta Testing & Feedback
Before launching the beta, we tested the game with friends and family, collecting responses from 46 people ranging in age from 9 to 52. Players filled out a survey to provide feedback on the gameplay and design.
Key Takeaways from Testing:
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Positive Feedback: Most players found the game easy to pick up and enjoyable. The character design and background planets received high praise.
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Gameplay Adjustments: Some players felt that Smeeze moved too fast too quickly, so we adjusted the difficulty curve for a better experience.
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Feature Additions: 30 testers suggested adding special ability cheeses, which we implemented to enhance gameplay variety.
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Design Tweaks: The wheel of cheese originally looked too much like a pizza, so we modified the perspective to make it clearer.
Conclusion & Takeaways
The branding and design of Smeeze Saves Cheese successfully brought the game’s adventurous and playful concept to life. The strong visual identity helped establish a clear personality for the game, and user testing allowed us to refine the experience based on real feedback. Moving forward, we aim to continue improving and expanding the game while keeping its fun and engaging aesthetic at the core of the design.
