Hungry Bat

Overview

A match-3 built solo, from the board architecture to the level tooling.

Solo · architecture, algorithms, tooling

The board is split so that each class owns one job: the grid, the filler, the matcher, the sorter, the state machine and the authenticator that validates a move before it commits. They talk through events rather than references, so the collapse and refill sequence does not care what triggered it.

Three skills change how a board gets solved: a bomb that detonates an area, a potion that transforms fruit, and lightning that strikes every matching fruit at once. Each derives from an abstract Skill ScriptableObject, so adding one is an asset and a subclass rather than a change to the manager.

Levels are assembled from goal and obstacle parameters with skills enabled per level, so a new one is a data change rather than new code. Pooling sits behind a generic IPoolSystem interface, which is what let the fruit pool be swapped without touching the board.

My contributions

Board architecture

Split the board into one class per responsibility: grid and tilemap, filler, matcher, sorter, state machine, and the subscriber that carries events between them. Single responsibility here is not decoration, it is why a match-3 rule change touches one file.
Built an authenticator above them that validates matches and produces tips, so both features read one definition of what the board allows rather than two that can drift apart.
Connected them through events rather than direct references, which kept the collapse and refill sequence independent of whatever triggered it.

Algorithms

Wrote recursive removal on generation so the first board is guaranteed match-free, then a second pass reducing accidental matches as pieces fall.
Built sequential match handling with a merge pass over it, and shuffle detection driven by events instead of polling every frame.
Built the tip system to fire on idle and after an invalid swap, with delays tuned so it reads as help rather than as impatience.

Skills and levels

Built Skill as an abstract ScriptableObject and derived bomb and potion from it, so a new skill is an asset and a subclass and the manager that runs them never changes.
Made levels data: per-level fruit selection, goal UI and three-star progress driven by parameters rather than by scenes.
Built an editor tool specifically to test levels.

Pooling and performance

Wrote pooling behind a generic IPoolSystem<T> interface with a concrete PoolSystem and a fruit-specific pool on top, so the board depends on the abstraction and the implementation can be swapped without touching it.
Optimised the movement-detection and merge paths and reduced every texture max size, then shipped a web build with a camera size fitter.

Feel

Built the presentation layer on DOTween: UI and popup animation, button tints, fruit blast and flying particles on a match, lightning VFX.
Built a sound manager with mute validation covering every audio source, including the ones added late.