Swarm: Containment Protocol reimagines the arcade shooter as a population management challenge rather than a traditional survival game. Enemy carriers reproduce by laying eggs that hatch into new threats, requiring players to balance immediate combat with long-term containment.
As the swarm expands, players shift from reactive shooting toward proactive target prioritization, spatial control, and risk management under increasing pressure.
Enemy Roles & Swarm Escalation
Enemy variety plays a central role in shaping the game’s difficulty and pacing. Each insect introduces unique movement patterns, durability, and reproduction behavior, encouraging players to continuously adapt their containment strategy instead of relying on a single approach. By combining visible enemy behavior with an evolving reproduction system, the game creates escalating pressure that remains readable while rewarding target prioritization, spatial awareness, and efficient movement.
Gameplay Progression
Swarm: Containment Protocol introduces new mechanics gradually, allowing players to develop confidence with the core containment loop before facing increasingly complex scenarios. Enemy variety, reproduction mechanics, and arena pressure are layered over time, creating a progression that rewards learning and adaptation rather than memorization.
By building difficulty through interconnected systems instead of sudden spikes, the game encourages players to refine their movement, prioritize threats effectively, and maintain control as the infestation evolves.
Developed during the Michigan State University’s Game Design and Development program on Coursera, the project expands a provided framework with original gameplay systems, enemy behaviors, balancing, and progression implemented in Unity using C#.
AI-assisted tools were used during post-course development to support concept exploration, feature implementation, code refactoring, debugging, and iterative refinement.