Stay Fast

Overview

Stay Fast is a single-player arcade racing game set on the frozen planet of Diamys, where speed is survival and slowing down means freezing over.

The project was built in two months at Vancouver Film School and won Best Team Project. My focus was making the core loop immediately understandable, then tuning it through public playtests until the challenge felt fast, readable, and replayable.

My role

• Defined the Drive, Drift, Nitro loop so speed, drifting, boost, and the freezing mechanic all supported the same player goal.
• Designed and balanced the three-star scoring system to give casual players a clear finish target and competitive players a reason to replay.
• Turned public playtest feedback into tuning changes around pacing, reward timing, readability, and challenge.
• Helped the team keep the project focused on a small, sharp arcade experience that could ship inside the short schedule.

Design goals

• Teach the core loop within seconds: drive fast, drift well, earn nitro, and stay warm.
• Make every major mechanic support forward momentum and pressure.
• Give players readable feedback when they were succeeding, slipping, freezing, or earning boost.
• Use scoring to encourage replay without making the win condition unclear.

Design process

• Started by connecting the fantasy of surviving subzero temperatures to the racing loop: the player should always feel pressure to keep moving.
• Tuned drifting and nitro rewards so the best way to survive was also the most fun way to drive.
• Balanced the three-star scoring thresholds through public playtests, watching where players understood the challenge and where they needed clearer feedback.
• Kept iteration practical: small tuning changes, quick tests, and clear goals for the next playable build.