ZugZwang is a strategic, chess-inspired puzzle game focused on tactical positioning, decision pressure, and deliberate play.
Developed within a 10-week production timeframe as part of the School4Games program, the project emphasizes clean systems, scalable progression, and performance-aware design under real production constraints.
🔗 Project page: https://www.jannikkluge.com/#/projects/ZugZwang
🌐 Portfolio: https://www.jannikkluge.com
In ZugZwang, players face increasingly complex tactical board scenarios where every move is mandatory and every decision creates a disadvantage somewhere else.
The core challenge is not finding a good move—but choosing the least damaging one.
Key features:
- Chess-inspired tactical puzzles
- Turn-based, deterministic gameplay
- Progressive difficulty and endless mode
- Clean, minimal UI focused on decision clarity
I worked as Game Engineer in a team of 10 people, contributing across gameplay systems, UI, performance optimization, and production pipelines.
- Implemented a Player Account Progression System featuring levels, XP, and persistent high scores, supported by an extended PlayerPrefs-based save system
- Developed a PlayerPrefs Editor UI and implemented touch controls
- Designed and built a responsive UI, including the Main Menu, Pause Menu, and Ingame HUD, along with a functional loading screen with async loading
- Developed the Tutorial Mode
- Implemented the environment randomizer and spawning
- Built a custom debug system
- Implemented graphic and audio settings
- Contributed to battery life optimization
This project marked my first experience coding closely with another developer under real time constraints.
Within the 10-week timeframe, task separation, communication, and shared ownership were essential to shipping a polished and stable game.
A key takeaway was that performance is a design constraint, not an afterthought.
Targeting mobile early enforced discipline in rendering, memory allocation, and UI complexity, shaping both the technical architecture and gameplay decisions from day one.
- Unity Engine 6000.0.51f1 – Core engine and scene system
- C# – Gameplay logic, UI, and systems
- Perforce – Version control and collaboration
More tools and engines I work with:
➡️ https://www.jannikkluge.com/#/tools-and-engines
You can find more information, downloads, and the itch.io demo here:
➡️ https://s4g.itch.io/zugzwang
🌐 Portfolio: https://www.jannikkluge.com
📧 Email: [email protected]
💼 GitHub: https://github.com/prayyOnIntelliJ