Timeline:

March 2024 - April 2024

Toolkit

Interviewing, Affinity Diagramming, Roadmapping, Prioritization (MoSCoW), Monetization Strategy,Prototyping Oversight, Stakeholder Pitching

Team:

Team of 5, University of Michigan School of Information

Role:

Project Manager, UX Researcher, UX Designer

Goal:

Deliver a mobile game concept and prototype that balanced entertainment, accessibility, and ethical monetization while producing a compelling pitch deck for stakeholders — all within six weeks.

Context

How do you design a mystery exploration mobile game that’s entertaining, accessible, and fundable?

That was the challenge behind Castaway: Island Unknown, a pixel-art survival mystery game my team and I created from the ground up. With a small team and a tight deadline, our task wasn’t fixing problems, it was building a world, a player experience, and a business case strong enough to pitch.

The Problem

The mobile game market is massive, $315B in 2023 and projected to exceed $419B by 2027 (gitnux), but it faces persistent issues that alienate players:

• Puzzle frustration – Many mystery/puzzle games gate narrative behind overly difficult or unfair mechanics, leading to early player drop-off.
• Predatory monetization – Gacha systems dominate, but often rely on “pay-to-win” models that erode player trust and retention.
• Shallow immersion – Mobile titles rarely lean into atmosphere or story continuity the way PC/console competitors like Firewatch or Outer Wilds do.

In short: Players want mystery, exploration, and immersion — but without frustration or exploitation. That was the gap Castaway set out to fill.

Image from Udonis

Objectives

We broke our project down into four main objectives:

1. Deliver a narrative-driven experience players could connect with emotionally.
2. Refine puzzles to challenge, not frustrate, while keeping story flow intact.
3. Develop a fair monetization system that rewarded exploration, not just spending.