Philly ball
January 2026- June 2026
Platform: PC + Arcade Engine: Unity Team Size: 7 Duration: 6 months Role: Gameplay Programmer
Philly Ball is a fast local multiplayer arcade soccer game built in Unity through Drexel University’s EGS Incubator and designed for quick, chaotic matches. Set across locations in Philadelphia, the game uses simple controls, physics-driven gameplay, and power-ups to create competitive multiplayer moments.
As a Gameplay Programmer, I focused on implementing and refining the systems that shaped the game’s core, including: movement, sprinting, jumping, kicking, and their charge levels. These mechanics helped create the chaotic interactions central to Philly Ball, allowing players to launch the ball and their opponents, all through simple controls. I also implemented the Shadow Clone ability, expanding the game’s power-up library and giving players a disruptive power-up that lets them dominate opponents if used wisely.
Trailer
Design Pillars
Fast multiplayer - Matches needed to be quick to understand and easy to restart, especially for arcade cabinet play.
Simple Inputs, Big Outcomes- Core mechanics needed to result in large physics-driven moments
Philadelphia x World Cup - The environment needed to reflect iconic Philadelphia locations while showcasing the nations participating in the tournament.
MY WORK
Implemented player movement, sprinting, and jumping
Implemented kicking and kick charge levels
Tuned physical interactions between players and the ball
Implemented the Shadow Clone ability
Supported arcade cabinet playtesting and showcase iteration
CORE GAMEPLAY
Move + Sprint to go faster
Jump
Kicking + Charge Levels
Kicking deep dive
Problem: The system helped Philly Ball feel less like a strict soccer simulation and more like a physical arcade game built around readable chaos.
Design Intent: The kick needed to be immediately understandable as a core action while still giving players room to experiment with it through stronger, riskier, and more chaotic ways without overcomplicating it.
Implementation:
I implemented a charge-based kicking system where holding the input increases kick strength. Different charge levels affect the force applied to the target as well as the height multiplier, letting players choose between short taps for low kicks and longer presses for high clears.
Result: Because the ball and players interact through physics, charged kicks can create unpredictable moments. Players can launch the ball into opponents, disrupt positioning, create rebounds, and turn simple inputs into chaotic multiplayer outcomes.
ShadowClone Spotlight
I also implemented the Shadow Clone ability, a disruptive power-up that lets players confuse opponents and create sudden momentum shifts during matches. The goal was to add a playful arcade tool that could interrupt predictable play without making the match unreadable.
Arcade cabinet deep dive
Testing Philly Ball while in development helped us evaluate how the game would feel in a real public-facing format. Seeing players interact with the game showed how our local multiplayer design could translate from development builds into an approachable arcade experience.
We transformed Philly Ball from a Unity multiplayer game into a custom arcade cabinet built for live events and venue activations. The cabinet combined our game design work with physical production, visual branding, and hardware considerations to create a complete playable installation.
Bringing Philly Ball to public venues required more than finishing the game. I helped coordinate the logistics of moving the cabinet through U-Hauls, loading it in and out of spaces, and making sure the setup was reliable enough for real-world activations. We ensured this through local community testing opporunities.
The Philly Ball cabinet was the result of collaboration across our team, faculty support, and external production partners. We worked with people on woodcutting, side panel painting, and physical finishing to make sure the cabinet functioned well and looked polished in public.
Playing Philly Ball on the cabinet completed the project’s arcade vision. The physical controls, cabinet presentation, and fast local multiplayer gameplay came together to create a social, pick-up-and-play experience designed for bars, events, and public spaces.