Kelly Lin
Tiny Terra
Overview
Tiny Terra is a casual, single-player farming game. You play as Pineapple Head, a tiny 4 cm creature, starting a farming business in the kitchen to provide goods for the surrounding mini residents after humans have disappeared.
Genre: Sim, Puzzle, Adventure
Engine: Unity (C#)
Studio: Mystic Minds Game Studio
My Roles & Contribution
A Multi-System Design Grounded in Player Motivation and Narrative Integration
In Tiny Terra, the design and documentation of all core systems—including farming, quests, economy, collection, and crafting—were structured to function as a unified whole, supporting both player motivation and the overarching narrative arc.
Gameplay
A modular structure was developed, with each system feeding into the next: quests guide players toward specific farming goals; farming produces currency and items; crafting unlocks new interactables; and exploration reveals deeper worldbuilding details. It helps maintain long-term engagement.
Gameplay Loop (Alpha ver.)
Flow Chart
Farming & Quest Systems
The core mechanic supports both player routine and narrative progression. Crops grew in four stages, and farming fed into a quest system that served as both motivation and worldbuilding. Players received orders from quirky NPCs, like a treehouse resident requesting popcorn or a community center that needed mahjong pieces.
Quest Diagram
Resource Balance Chart Example
Quest Implementation Document
Discovery Through Systems, Not Menus
The fishing system was originally designed as a mini-game, but during playtesting, it became unexpectedly popular. To integrate it more meaningfully, it was expanded to reinforce the core loop. Players needed gooey drops—a resource only obtained through farming—to access fishing, subtly pulling them back toward the core mechanics.
System Iteration
Higher-tier fishing rods offered faster QTE times and better loot, creating a progression system nested within a side loop.
Fishing & Farming Related Item Description
Crafting, too, was built around the core mechanic. Many recipes could be discovered by observing environmental clues or reading between the lines of NPC dialogue. For example, players who explore the environment may notice that cutting a flower with scissors yields leaves, which, when combined with a bottle cap, can be turned into paint. These crafted items are often used to unlock new areas or are rewarded with additional clues.
Crafting System & Environment
Designing for Exploration and Delight
A five-category collection system (crops, materials, crafts, gifts, and postcards) is implemented to encourage players to interact with every corner of the world.
Collection System
Reward pacing helps balance scheduled feedback (quest rewards, NPC gifts) with surprise (random fishing drops, crafting results).
Item Examples
Environmental storytelling was also baked into everything. Players slowly pieced together where the humans went through newspaper fragments and videotapes hidden in the environment. These weren’t frontloaded, but layered into gameplay through the very same systems players were already using.
Postcard Examples
Interactables Examples
Iterated the Camera System for Immersive Miniature Perspective
In Tiny Terra, the sense of scale is crucial—players embody a 4cm-tall Pineapple Head exploring a world of oversized everyday objects. To reinforce this miniature perspective, a slightly top-down camera was designed to effectively emphasize Pineapple Head’s small size. However, through iterative playtesting, we identified that while this view supported visual scale, it lacked player immersion and spatial awareness.
The redesign of the camera system is turning it into a dynamic third-person follow camera, positioned directly behind the character with zoom control. The zoomable view allows players to better perceive verticality, locate interactables, and feel embedded in the oversized kitchen world.
Camera Iteration
Prototyping, Iteration, and UX Integration
To ensure intuitive onboarding and strong player retention, a multi-phase playtesting pipeline was structured, combining player observation, form-based feedback, and interviews.
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Playtest Methods
After identifying common friction points—such as unclear goals, inconsistent feedback, and lack of visual affordance—priorities were set and iterations were designed accordingly.
Iteration Plan Example (Alpha Test)
Updated GANTT Chart (Alpha Test)
After iteration, the player-centered iteration cycle directly improved playtime duration and viscerality in our beta release.
For example, the farming area originally used oval-shaped tuna cans, which left visible gaps between them—creating a visually unappealing and confusing layout for players. Additionally, the planting tiles were not clearly defined or large enough for players to easily plant their seeds. In the first iteration, planks were added to cover the gaps, and the tiles were enlarged to improve clarity.
In the latest version, the tuna cans were replaced with rectangular shapes, and the paths were redesigned using spaghetti boxes. These changes made walking and planting feel more natural and comfortable for players.
The first version of the quest board lacked animations and feedback during reward claiming, causing confusion and frustration. The second version added a claiming scene with visible rewards, happy character expressions, and an "Add to Inventory" button. The final version further improved the experience by introducing a brief claiming animation, adding anticipation and emotional payoff.