Pump That King: A Physics-Driven 2D Game Focused on Competitive Replayability

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Pump That King

A Physics-Driven 2D Game Focused on Competitive Replayabiliy

Pump That King is a 2D physics-based action game developed in Swift and SpriteKit, featuring a playful pumpkin theme and a simple but addictive launch mechanic. The player adjusts cannon pressure to shoot a pumpkin as far across the landscape as possible. The farther the pumpkin travels, the higher the final score. The design encourages repeated attempts — a short, cyclical play pattern where players constantly try to exceed their previous distances. Despite its casual tone and cute visuals, the underlying physics calculations aim to create satisfying skill expression and consistent challenge. The game was submitted to a classroom competition, where it advanced to the second round.

Role:

This was a group project completed over approximately three weeks. I contributed as an editor, coder, and ideator. My responsibilities included programming launch mechanics, tuning the physics systems, and refining the gameplay flow. I also contributed to the UI layout and overall visual direction to ensure consistency in the aesthetic.

Challenge and Goal:

The main development difficulty stemmed from maintaining believable physics motion while keeping the game fun. Small changes to gravity, collision behavior, or force output often led to wildly unrealistic movement — pumpkins flying infinitely upward, clipping through obstacles, or stopping instantly upon launch. Debugging required detailed trial-and-error, with layered print-value testing to observe how forces were being applied frame-by-frame. This process improved my understanding of physics scaling in SpriteKit and taught me to balance realism with approachable gameplay.

Another technical hurdle involved scene transitions for long-distance trajectories. We wanted backgrounds to scroll smoothly so the player experienced the full travel path rather than watching the pumpkin vanish off-screen. Achieving this required camera manipulation and fine-tuning image sizing to avoid overlap artifacts or jittering movement. These iterative problem-solving steps built a stronger foundation for future 2D game workflows in Swift.

In Game Photo

Ideation:

Initial brainstorming focused on character personalization — letting players mix and match pumpkin parts to build their own avatar. However, the feature proved more time-intensive than impactful, requiring asset generation and UI logic that would shift resources away from mechanical polish. After evaluating scope, the team pivoted toward one strong core mechanic instead of multiple weaker ones.

From there, development centered on: prototyping launch behaviors with basic shapes to test physics responses; refining input feedback such as pressure meters and timing indicators, animating pumpkins and cannon to boost visual clarity; maintaining a cohesive “cute pumpkin” aesthetic throughout backgrounds and character design.

We held short iteration cycles, reviewing each new build to ensure gameplay remained responsive and visually readable. My role included verifying collision quality, reducing unnecessary complexity, fixing bugs, filming progress videos, and keeping team momentum aligned with the competition timeline.

Turned out:

Expanding the game would involve adding features like wind effects, moving obstacles, power-ups, or unlockable pumpkin styles that reward sustained engagement. A global leaderboard system or scoring achievements could also broaden competitive motivation. From a technical standpoint, integrating more advanced physics interactions would deepen the skill curve and allow players to develop strategic control.

Most importantly, this project strengthened my practical programming workflow in Swift, improved my ability to scope creatively within time limits, and taught me to evaluate when a feature supports gameplay, and when it is just adding noise. The experience proved that simplicity, when executed with precision, can be a more compelling design path than unnecessary complexity.

Download the following file to play!(Only MAC)

Squash the Pumpkin (FINAL).zip

下載 ZIP • 6.46MB