CROSSING
CROSSING
CROSSING
MICHAEL KIRBY
ASTRONIMO
I began my work on Astronimo as a Junior UI Artist, creating menus, icons, UX flows, and typography that fit the game’s chunky, sci-fi, sticker-inspired aesthetic. After establishing a strong visual foundation, I transitioned from the art department into the design team as a Junior Game Designer. In this role, I worked on gameplay features and mechanics while designing mini-moons, challenges, puzzles, and traversal across Zaroth IV, the game’s icy second world. This blend of UI artistry and game design allowed me to contribute to Astronimo’s style, playability, and sense of exploration from multiple angles.
CHALLENGE DESIGN
On this project I transitioned from a UI Artist into a Game Designer role, which was a big shift for my career but a welcome one. Shifting into a Design role I tackled a lot of challenge/puzzle designs that Players would need to overcome using contraptions they had to build from challenge workshops. As well as create Mini Moons, which would be small worlds that Players could find out in space. I wrote Steam blog posts about the detailed steps I took to create challenges and Mini Moons for the, The Festive Making of Yule Moon and Community Moons.
Below are some examples of my work.
UI DESIGN WORK
When I started on this project I was a UI Artist and worked on many of the UI elements for the game and helped work on the UX wireframes for how the menus would work in particular for the Workshops that would be pivotal for Players to use and navigate to create their contraptions. Using my experience that I gained while working on OlliOlli World I was able to help create Instructional buttons for Xbox, PlayStation and Keyboard, in addition to creating some stylish iconography.
With some experimentation of UI art styles and looking at the kind of plastic toy style of the 3D art we came to apply a sticker art aesthetic to the icons in game. Which you see in the final game and works well with the vibrant colours.
One of the biggest UI challenges on this project was creating a whole new Font called Hypergiant, which needed to also contain European characters for localisation.
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Below are some UI asset examples I worked on.
​Below are some examples of my UI work in game.
ABOUT THE GAME
Astronimo is a sandbox, space exploring and platformer game, with gameplay mechanics focused on cooperative play, creativity and challenge/puzzle solving. This game aims to be the most fun you can have in outer space. While mining for resources in the vast reaches of the Solar Map, four Hypergiant Inc employees crash-land on a small planet and become hopelessly stranded. In the hopes of reuniting with their fleet, you must help them to cover every inch of the planetary surface, gather all manner of resources to solve puzzles in unique and creative ways, then build a shuttle and fuel it to launch back into space.
Astronimo takes platforming and customisation to the interstellar medium and beyond with its quirky campaign. Or take things a step further with customisation that stretches the bounds of your imagination with Community Moon.
Press the button above to be taken to the game's page.