How to build a Smash it! in Qualifio

In this tutorial, we’re going to show you how to make a Smash it! game, where participants need to smash a bunch of objects as they peek out of different holes. They have to be quick and hit the objects before they disappear. And, of course, it's imperative to avoid the bad objects. Let’s begin!

Before we start the tutorial, we invite you to play a live version of the game.

 

Getting started

Get your campaign ready

Step 1, let’s create your campaign:

1. Open Qualifio Engage and click the Create a new campaign button.
2. Select Games > Smash it!
3. If the participant needs to register to participate, pick the “identified” mode. If no registration is required, select “anonymous”.
4. Select Create campaign.

After you create your campaign, you can start setting up the game.

 

Choose a game to customise

In the Game step, there are several ready-to-use games you can use as an inspiration.

Once you decide which game you want to start with, select Customise this game.

Note: custom games allow you to create and save your own game templates. To save the design and gameplay mechanics as a custom game, you only need to open the editor, edit your game however you like, and then click Save as new game. Custom games can also be found in the Content section under the “Advanced formats”.

 

Game controls and customisation

Layout

Now it’s time to start adding some custom images to your game. To design a Smash it! game, your first step will be to add a background image as well as the sound on/off buttons.

Note: to preview the most recent changes to your game, you can use the live preview feature and select Refresh.

Background image

That image is used as a background on all game pages.

Sound on/off buttons

Participants can turn audio on and off at will. The Sound off button will mute all audio in your game, while the Sound on button will reactivate all audio in your game.

Game mode

The Smash it! has two game modes that can be played:

• In the life-based mode, the participant loses a life each time they smash a bad object. The game ends when all lives are lost.
• In the time-based mode, you set a time limit and participants have to be quick to smash as many correct objects as possible. The game ends when time runs out.

Smash it!

Then, go to the Smash it! section. This is where you can configure the grid and the objects to smash.

• First, define the size of the grid by selecting the number of rows and columns.
• Then, upload the different images that will be shown in the grid and that participants must smash, select an object type for each of them:
  • bonus/malus points
  • bonus/malus seconds, if time-based mode is selected
  • bonus/malus lives, if life-base mode selected

You have also the possibility to customise the game a bit more by:

• Adding an image to the cursor when participants will smash the objects
• Make the screen shake when participants click on a malus object
• Make the game more complicated by displaying multiple smashable objects at the same time

You have 3 difficulty levels (from easy to hard). They will have an impact on acceleration of the objects being displayed and hidden.

Panels

Panels are interactive in-game screens and are one of the principal elements of the game. They inform players or give them directions on the next move to make.

• The tutorial panel shows how the game is played and is displayed automatically once the game is loaded
• The pause panel shows a text with a Resume button and is displayed automatically when participants click outside the game
• The game-over panel shows the participant’s score and is displayed automatically once the game ends

Sound effects

You can also add sound effects to your game:

• Background music, to set the atmosphere. You can also decide to create a Smash it! without any background music (sound is not mandatory).
• Sound effects at crucial moments or during specific actions (mandatory sounds):
  • when participants click on the Start button,
  • when participants smash a bonus object,
  • when participants smash a malus object,
  • when the game is over and when the game is ending.

Tada! Now, your Smash it! is ready to go. Remember to test the game!

 

Publish and share your campaign

To ensure responsiveness on smartphones and tablets, campaign integration must be done in the following way: 

1. Create a minisite or iframe channel.
2. Customise your game.
3. Add a mobile channel.
4. Make use of the minisite/iframe channel smart URL to share. To learn more, please check What is a smart URL and how to use it? 

 

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we created a Smash it! game in Qualifio. We hope you had a lot of fun building it. Thanks for reading, and happy playing! ✌🏼