Carnival Island is a collection of 35 carnival games designed for the PlayStation Move controller. It features many familiar games, such as ringtoss and basketball, but gradually reveals more “magical” variations on classic attractions as the player explores more of the carnival. It was the first title I shipped to retail as a developer, and the first title I worked on with Magic Pixel Games.
I worked primarily as a producer, but also did a lot of QA work on weekends when it was needed to get the game finished in its ambitious development cycle. I showed the game to the press throughout E3 2011 at the Sony booth and provided input on tuning the game’s many mechanics.
I am particularly proud of the game’s pick-up-and-play accessibility for families and kids. It’s the only game of its kind that does not restrict the player to specific, learned motions for each of its actions. Rather, it allows a player to throw a ring like a frisbee, toss it underhand, or throw it overhand. Basketballs can be thrown in any way too: overhand, granny style, even bounced off the ground. It does a great job of registering player intentionality with the Move controller.
