On top of his game
When he was asked about his ambition in life, Binura De Zoysa now 23, can remember telling his Grade 1 teacher that he wanted to make Harry Potter and Pokemon video games. Never giving up on that six-year-old’s dream, Binura went on from making Sonic the Hedgehog fan games all day to developing a chart topping game on the Apple App Store.
Binura De Zoysa
Tie N Dye is primarily a hyper-casual game which means a game that doesn’t involve complicated gameplay but usually a simple tap-tap mechanism. “ Inherently, hyper-casual games are focused on small sessions for instant satisfaction. With that in mind, I made it into a level-based game that has the mandatory core gameplay of dipping with progressive unlocks such as new game modes and playable objects,” Binura explains.
A game meant for quick fun while waiting for an elevator or to kill time, it can be enjoyed irrespective of whether the player reaches just one level or a thousand levels. The core of the game remains despite unlockables (a hidden feature that is unlocked to reward the player for some achievement) and value added content.
A mix of both a simulation and puzzle game where you have to first figure out how to recreate a pattern and then simulate the process of “producing and selling a product”, Tie N Dye was inspired by a hydro-dipping game which evolved into dipping and dyeing clothes. This stemmed from Binura’s own experience of dyeing clothes with his sister who is a fashion designer.
“I was able to recreate a story within the gameplay – almost sort of empowering and promoting each player’s creativity,” Binura says explaining that coming to that end goal was pivotal and well rewarded.
Binura was among five students to join the first and last batch of Singapore Informatics’ Gaming and Animation Technology program where he gained an Advanced Diploma right after he finished his schooling at Ananda College. He then completed a degree in Computing at London Metropolitan University through the Esoft Metro Campus.
He is currently the Lead Game Designer and Developer at Motion Miracles which is a game development based company in Sri Lanka. With the help of Motion Miracles’ Lead Game Artist Roshan de Selfa, who immediately jumped onboard and provided Binura with the necessary assistance and the support of their founder and CEO Anish Wijesinghe, Tie N Dye was released on the Apple App Store on June 30 after some gruelling work.
Work that paid off as the game quickly reached #2 in Simulation games and #4 in all Free Games in the Apple App Store in the USA. A feat that came unexpected. “I was overwhelmed honestly. Starting from a country that has never gotten a game out to waking up topping charts can be more overwhelming than exciting,” Binura shares.
When asked about what other games are in store for users, Binura is quick to say that there are always games on the pipeline at Motion Miracles as he works with a team of young, enthusiastic game developers and designers.
He opens an invitation for anyone who would like to learn game design, development, or what they do — there are training modules online that those interested can join on www.motionmiracles.com.
“The industry over here is small but it’s happening. I’m super excited to see where it leads and how I can contribute to it,” Binura says sharing his Instagram account (@binura.de.zoysa) dedicated to his experience with game design and development.
Tie N Dye is currently only available on the Apple App Store but will soon be available for Android mobiles as well.