Adapting Crash Mechanics
The brief was to take Red Light Green Light from Squid Game and fit it into a crash game format. Normally, a crash game has a single plane that climbs until you cash out. Trying to merge those mechanics with a theme as recognisable as Squid Game was not straightforward. I explored different directions, including new layouts and camera angles, before landing on a top-down view of the stadium. This gave the right atmosphere while also keeping the iconic doll in view at all times so players always understood the rules.
Player Scale
One of my first ideas was to show hundreds of players running across the screen to capture the sense of scale and chaos from the show. Unfortunately, backend restrictions meant that wasn’t possible. It was a setback, but it pushed me to focus on theming and clarity instead, making sure the design still felt connected to Squid Game without overwhelming the system.
Colour Choices in Game History
Another key challenge was deciding how to display game history. Research suggested traffic light colours would feel familiar, but I felt this wasn’t right. Red is used as a losing colour in all of our other games, so showing it as a win would be confusing. Players rely on the history section to quickly skim and spot when the big wins happened, because many believe large wins come after a run of smaller ones. To support this behaviour, I based the colours on rarity systems from games like Fortnite and Call of Duty. These gave clear visual cues that players already recognise, making it easy to pick out the most important results at a glance.
Visual Polish
This was the first time we had the support of a dedicated game artist, and it made a huge difference. She added polish on top of my assets that elevated the entire experience. With her input, along with well-crafted animations, the game felt much more alive and engaging than our earlier projects.
Sound Design
Until this project, our crash games had never launched with audio. Some in the team believed sound wasn’t necessary, but I strongly pushed for it. From my perspective, sound adds immersion, tension and excitement. Research later confirmed that players in the US wanted audio in their games, which validated that decision. This made Red Light Green Light the first crash game we built with sound, setting a new precedent for future projects.
Outcome
Despite the technical limits and creative debates, the final outcome was a polished, immersive game that stood out in our portfolio. The process had its ups and downs, from dropping ideas that weren’t possible, to standing firm on colour choices, to pushing for features like sound. Each challenge shaped the game into something stronger. In the end, it raised the bar for what we could deliver in a crash game and opened the door for more ambitious projects in the future.
