Restoring the Grid

That time I got paid to build a game to my own ideas.

Restoring the Grid title scene

Project Info: Restoring the Grid

Restoring the Grid was a game built in 2022 to coincide with a now-defunct cryptocurrency, $ACTS Token.

The game was built in Unity and featured a retrowave cyberpunk aesthetic and music.

The player was tasked with 'fixing' the broken grid by removing thorns and completing other tasks on foot and in a square vehicle that rolls around.

As the player cleared the thorns, the whole environment would change – from angry oranges and reds to cool blues and purples. The landscape itself morphed from jagged into smooth and things became easier and more visually pleasing.

I was given wide artistic license by the $ACTS Token team, and so the game design and development comes primarily from myself (Greg), the artist (Chris Magee) and a project manager (Charlie) – and that was basically the whole active team for the game. I had others ready, from authors to composers, but the project launch came at a bad time for any cryptocurrency, and the cryptocurrency is now defunct and the future of Restoring the Grid is uncertain.

There is a WebGL playable version of the game – a short demo that lasts about 10 minutes. It'll be in the arcade once that's live.

Screenshots from the final version of the game:

Screenshot of a cyberpunk synthwave game that is full of thorns. — The starting level - you had to make your way through the thorns to find the drill to clear them out.

Screenshot of a cyberpunk synthwave game featuring cracked energy tiles on the ground. — One of the "treasure rooms" that would unlock vehicles and powerups when cleared.

Screenshot of a cyberpunk synthwave game showing a flamethrower clearing out thorns. — After the first treasure room, you got a flamethrower that made short work of the thorns, and you can see the environment changing here from the angry orange and red to the cool blues and purples.

Screenshot of a cyberpunk synthwave game showing an exquisite gold and blue cube on a grid. — One of the bonus rooms where your cube rolled around while synthwave butterflies flew around you.

Screenshot of a cyberpunk synthwave game where flying orange spheres are spraying the ground with energy. — At the end of the demo... let's just say your work wasn't as complete as you thought it was.