The Openest of Worlds

File Icon/overviews/Open-World-Game-the-Open-World-Game
A screenshot of the top down gameplay of OWGTOWG. It features the player arrow icon with a health bar adjacent to a enemy icon with two horns that the player is combatting. A row of directional arrows is above the player that they are expected to press in order with each correct input damaging the enemy.
Info
  • Solo Project
  • 2019 (Steam + Itch.io Release)
  • 2020 (DLC Release)
  • OWGTOWG Steam Page
Role
  • UI / UX Designer
  • UI Programmer
  • Game Designer
  • Game Programmer
Tools
  • Photoshop
  • Unity
  • C#

Open World Game: the Open World Game (OWGTOWG) is a light-hearted satire that captures the purest open world game experience. Initially, OWGTOWG was just a sandbox I made to learn audio implementation, however, in the process of making it, I got hooked on the process of making games, greatly expand its scope, and polished it into what you see today.

I launched OWGTOWG on Steam and Itch.io in 2019 and its reception exceeded expectations; as of writing this, it has over 100,000 downloads and 2,000 reviews — 92% of them positive!

A screenshot of OWGTOWG gameplay where the the player has just leveled up on a green field. The UI in the top left display that the player is level 2 with 149/200 exp. The UI in the top right displays that they have 0% completion and 1 SP. The UI on the right side shows a list of varying (but ultimately irrelevant) experience gained.
A screenshot of the player attempting to fish in a map with bright blue boundaries and black background. The UI of collecting the fish shows two meters of a timer running out and the amount the player has to continue align with the fish icon to catch it.
A screenshot of the OWGTOWG stats menu of a player early on in their playthrough. It shows the list of the 12 main collectables and how many the player has collected as well as section that has yet to be unlocked, and another that lets the player select a different skin for their icon.
A screenshot of the three skill trees of OWGTOWG: Generalist, Speed-Runner, and Completionist, each full of indistinguishable and abstract symbols to represent the various skills. The currently selected skill is Aim with the description: you really don't care about unlocking this.
A screenshot of the Journal menu of OWGTOWG that is currently showing a list of locked and unlocked entries in the side quest category. The viewable entry titles are: A Quick Grind, A Quick Trade, Acrophobia, Ancient Manuscripts, Assassins I, Assassins II, Assassins III, and Assassin Training. The entry A Quick Trade currently open is a pun-y reference to original Pokemon games and reads: You found someone who wouldn't stop asking if you had a Spear Row. When you told them you didn't understand what you meant, they only repeated the question. Maybe it's a bit far fetched, but perhaps you'll run into whatever whatever a Spear Row is later and can help this person out.

© 2023 Zach Berglund