MPG

Project Summary

MPG is a fast-paced, quirky party game for smartphones. Players play through a series of chaotic minigames that try to trick them and require them to be on their toes at all times. Between each minigame, players have to "ready up" by putting their phone flat on the table. After a short countdown, the players have to race to complete a random minigame.

The project was built by me and Sydney Grant. I was the primary game designer and sole developer, while Sydney created the art for the game, as well as helping with ideation and the game design.

MPG was built upon two fundamental ideas: making people use their smartphones in unexpected ways, and using smartphones to bring people together instead of isolating them.

My Contribution

As the main designer and sole developer for MPG, I came up with most of the gameplay ideas and developed all of the code.

Some of my most notable contributions include:

• Created a multiplayer experience using Unity Relay and Unity Lobby alongside Netcode for GameObjects.
• Designed 5 initial minigames that creatively utilize each smartphone's sensors and keep players on their toes.
• Developed a minigame that utilizes a live weather API to have players guess the actual current temperature in another country.

Accomplishments

At NextNOW Fest 2025, 50+ visitors tried the game, and I saw what happens when strangers play together on their phones instead of scrolling. One group of friends told me they would like to have the app to play after having their weekly group dinner. When one player messed up a minigame, another player who did the same would share their pain, while the rest of the table would tease them. If someone couldn't understand a minigame, the player next to them was able to explain it. Overall, it was great to see a lot of interesting group dynamics, and I personally experienced that the game created a connection between me and the strangers who were demoing it with me.

Additionally, I saw the power of using the device's sensors. Because each player had to place their phone down between minigames, they would race to start and complete each minigame, sometimes leading to mistakes or getting penalties from trying to start early. The "shake your device" minigame was very fun to play and watch, because some users are more nervous about shaking the device while others go all out.

Shortcomings

As of this writing, the main shortcoming of the app is reliability. In a demo setting, the app performs very strongly, but behind the scenes the multiplayer connection is fragile and as soon as a player disconnects, things start breaking.

Another shortcoming was the "Combination Lock" minigame, which players often struggled to understand because the instructions weren't clear enough. We never did design a better way to communicate the rules, but we learned that players need to see the rule in action, not just read it.

What I Learned

This project taught me a lot, and changed my perspective on the types of projects I want to make going forward. Seeing people come together and enjoy playing this experience with both friends and strangers really showed me the value of bringing users together.

On the technical side, this was my first time working with multiplayer, and I learned a lot about how multiplayer and networking work and what it takes to make multiplayer experiences reliable.

Future Goals

In the future, I hope to continue working on this app and eventually sell it. First, I would like to make it more reliable so that it is viable for consumers outside of a demo setting. Additionally, I would like to create many more minigames, so that the game has as much replayability as possible.