bjorlidev | genn

GAME DIRECTOR - DIRECTING THE MOST SPIRITED TEAM OF 2026

Tower of Genn is a project I started in my first year at UCI. We worked on it for 2 quarters before taking a break for schoolwork- then came back three times as strong!

Since coming back from break, the game has been completely overhauled, tripled (or more) in content, fully UI'd, scored, SFX'd, published on Steam, marketed, loved, enjoyed, etc..

Throughout development the team has grown and shrunk, with a total of around 30 working on it, at one point or another. Throughout it all, I have made sure to lead my team to excellence! :D

Short gameplay clip showcasing some block interactions.

THE GAME

Screenshot of late gameplay, with a fairly tall tower.

Tower of Genn tasks the player with a simple gameplay loop: build a tower! For the longest time as a game designer I've had a fascination with towers as backdrops for gameplay- they carry within them such infinite vectors of design.

Inspired by games such as Dorfromantik, Tetris, and Jenga, players use tetracubes and other 3d shapes comprised of 'Special Blocks' to assemble their tower. The loop is tightly moderated by the player's need to keep their 'Stockpile' up, being drained for each piece placed.

Players have multiple inflows in which they might gain stockpile, such as through the bonus bar, or quests! Quests form an important backbones of the balancing as a primary inflow. They exist under the concept of "Put it on the board," ie, the quests themselves are blocks on the tower, that have special conditions that must be met.

A cinematic shot of the tower, with UI elements turned off.
Take in the view!

Here the player has placed too far to the edge,
indicated by the red blocks.

BLOCKS

Editor view of all the current blocks. Shout-out to our 3d artist!

Blocks make up the fundamental gameplay of Tower of Genn. Players use blocks to essentially construct the level themselves, facing choices that will cascade into different decisions overtime. If they aren't careful, they might build themselves into a corner!

Blocks are designed such that they will carry immersive properties, by having property tags that carry within them rules. Each block contains a unique function that works within these tags, such as the capability of the 'Lava Block' to burn blocks tagged with 'Flammable.'

All this comes together to create a strategic immersive simulation of sorts, inspired by my time with games such as Breath of the Wild and Deus Ex!

Here, the player has placed some lava upon some grass.
It has begun to burn!

The player has allowed some grass to grow,
covering exposed stone.

QUESTS

Here the player has two active quests on their tower,
designated by the orange icons.

Quests, being such an inflow for the primary gameplay driving resource (stockpile), were very important to get right. Originally, they existed as side objectives that could be completed anywhere, but that wasn't very fun. It lacked a certain "presence" in a game where you build the experience you play.

That's when quest blocks became a thing! I was inspired by the design concept of "put it on the board," that I first heard in the context of Starcraft. Using some inspiration from Dorfromantik, I redesigned the quests to be icons attached to a specific block, that demanded a specific localized action. This was VERY well recieved by playtesters, and is frequently the most desired for content expansions.

The player can see two of their upcoming shapes contain a quest.

Here the player can track what kinds of active quests they have,
as well as what they must do to complete them.

HISTORY - DAY 0 TO NOW

Tower of Genn began as a simple idea: build a tower. Genuinely, that was it. At the time, my new friends and peers I had made my first quarter at UCI in VGDC were really motivating me to pitch a project. I wasn't sure I was going to at first, but it would later turn out to be one of the most important aspects of my life at the time!

Beyond the gameplay, I had formulated the idea around a modular approach to project management. The gameplay was designed to make it far easier to segment different departments to reduce friction and roadblocks. It's all literally made of unique blocks!

The first image of the original pitch, delivered to the entire club, ~Nov 2024.
I'd like to think my pitch decks have improved since!

My honest to god original sketch of the game.

Original pitch of the basic gameplay and rules.

I have done three of these

This was a cool test i did to get on the team