bobbygarzagames.com
+ ORBLITERA +
Game & Scoring Systems, AI, Prototyping, Iteration
Unreal Engine 5 | C++ | Blueprint
Project Summary
Built in Unreal Engine 5, ORBLITERA is an endless arena survival game where players combine magical abilities to survive increasingly dangerous enemy swarms, pushing their score as high as possible before ultimately being overwhelmed.
Originally developed as a game jam project, and officially released in 2026, ORBLITERA presented an opportunity to explore how its core gameplay could evolve into a deeper and more engaging experience.
Through iterative prototyping and playtesting, I expanded the game's combat systems and progression loop while preserving the fast-paced gameplay that defined the original prototype. My work focused on creating satisfying player progression, scalable enemy encounters, and developed the groundwork for systems that encouraged experimentation and replayability.
One of the latest trailers for ORBLITERA
Expanding the Game Loop
ORBLITERA began as a game jam project that was a hit with players by the end of the challenge. As many participants gathered around to play, we received repeated requests to expand the project into a more complete and polished experience, so we set out to do just that!
To expand on the design, my primary goal was to deepen the game without sacrificing its stark identity. Through playtesting, I observed that players found the greatest satisfaction in maximizing their efficiency while playing, mainly by eliminating large groups of enemies as quickly as possible while maintaining momentum. Rather than replacing this core loop, I designed new systems that amplified it, and rewarded players for engaging with it.
Gameplay of the original game jam build
One of the largest additions was a new chain lightning ability, allowing players to strategically eliminate groups of enemies, rewarding careful positioning and target selection. To further reinforce efficient play, I implemented a mana system that rewarded skilled players for maintaining momentum while introducing meaningful resource management as enemy pressure increased; By combining magic and defeating multiple enemies at once, more mana would drop at a time, recharging the player for another attack! Together, these additions created emergent decision-making opportunities while remaining faithful to the original gameplay.
Scalable Gameplay Systems & Managers
Supporting these new mechanics required redesigning much of the game's underlying architecture. To ensure the game could scale indefinitely, I developed a collection of modular gameplay managers responsible for individual systems such as enemy spawning, game state, player progression, and enemy population management. Rather than centralizing every responsibility into a single controller, each manager communicated with the others to maintain a consistent and scalable game state.
For example, the spawning system tracks active obelisks independently, allowing destroyed spawners to register with a dedicated Spawner Manager and respawn according to configurable designer-controlled timers. Likewise, the Enemy Manager can monitor active enemy counts and adjust spawning behavior and difficulty progression as matches continue, in tandem with the primary Game Manager. Gameplay systems such as player abilities, scoring, and projectile interactions communicate with these managers to ensure that each system remains synchronized while preserving flexibility for future iteration and balancing.
This modular architecture allowed the game's difficulty to increase naturally over extended play sessions while making balancing significantly easier to accomplish throughout development. By separating gameplay responsibilities into specialized systems, iteration on individual mechanics become a smooth process, creating a foundation that supports both long-term scalability and rapid design changes.