Summit Drive

Luke Kim

Game Designer / Developer

Luke Kim is a game designer and developer with a player-first mindset, crafting engaging and polished projects that prioritize experience, mechanics, and a carefully scoped vision.

Thesis Faculty

Alexander King

Summit Drive is a difficult game about driving up a mountain.

Development Platform: Unity Game Engine using C#

Platform: PC

Game

The demo can be downloaded on itch.io: https://savoryseaweed.itch.io/summit-drive

What is Summit Drive?

Summit Drive is a driving game where you play as an anthropomorphic bird who must make their way up to the mountain summit for a view like none other. It blends the mechanical absurdity of Enviro-bear 2000’s controls with A Short Hike’s cozy, quirky aesthetic.

The game revolves around steering a physics-based vehicle using only your mouse buttons for directional control. You must use your left mouse to interact, drive, and steer, while using your right mouse button to brake and change gears. The path upwards is narrow, steep, bumpy, and filled with obstacles that appear before your eyes.

Why am I making this game?

To explores emotions players get from playing rage-inducing games and why players will still play them regardless of the frustration.

To explore what makes it so motivating. Is it the achievement or the amount of effort we bring?

I want to merge humor and playful design with an experience that may feel torturous.

What drove this game?

Over the course of this project, I was surprised to hear many play-testers mentioning about whether they have a driver’s license or not. What is funny, is that this game uses driving as a metaphor for life. Eventually we all need our licenses and we all need to drive someday. Driving can metaphorically refer to the challenges we face in our lives. It is commonly seen as the next chapter of growth, just like the challenge that awaits ahead in this game. Summit Drive aims to show this metaphor of driving through its abnormal mechanics, the quirkiness of the bird, the terrain, and the blend between a relaxed aesthetic with pure chaos.

How did I drive?

Final in-game screenshot of *Summit Drive*

From working with the combination of keyboard keys with the mouse to steer and drive, I quickly found that to be too complicated through many playtests. In Summit Drive‘s final version, all of the game’s vehicle mechanics are driven by both mouse button, but also its directional movement. Having these constraints for myself and players, I was able to set the boundaries for the game’s design goals.

Players must hold the left mouse button to drive forwards, while steering as long as their hand in-game is on the steering wheel. Players can also use their right mouse button to change the vehicle’s gear while also pressing the brakes upon hold the button. Windshield wipers was also added and made interactable to assist during the drive up.

Design Goals

Steer from the typical WASD controls many driving games have.

Contrast calm visuals with brutal gameplay.

Explore failure as a path to meaningful success.

How is the game difficult?

While Summit Drive’s vehicle controls already convey its difficulty, many other aspects of the game and its environment also contribute to the challenge of driving upward. There are boulders that will roll down the hill as you are driving. Upon impact, it will apply a force that will push the car away from your destination. There are also narrow roads along your journey which creates a sense of tension while driving. Smaller birds will land on the front window, blocking your vision, and players must use the windshield wipers to wipe them away. The type of terrain your are driving on also effects how you drive. For example, driving on snow will apply less friction to the vehicle’s wheels, making steering left and right quite difficult compared to driving on the road.