Ricotta Retribution
Original Game Design and Development
A pixel art platformer game conceived, designed, and developed by Lauren Vega. Players guide Bay Hollander through a world overrun by cheese-hoarding aliens, collecting coins and fighting back to avenge his family and save humanity.
Ricotta Retribution started as an original concept and became a fully playable game. The premise is built around Bay Hollander, a 23-year-old living in a world taken over by aliens who survive on radioactive rotten ricotta cheese. Bay's family was killed during the invasion. His mission: take back the cheese and eliminate every alien on the way.
The game is a side-scrolling platformer built in Flowlab, with mechanics that reward both speed and strategy. Players move using the arrow keys, stomping aliens to eliminate them and collecting coins to build their score across levels. Dogs scattered through the levels can be avoided or stomped for bonus coins, but touching them from the sides costs health. Spikes add environmental hazard. Each level gives Bay 8 health, and death restarts the level.
The level design adds a navigation challenge on top of the combat: there is only one path to the radioactive cheese that unlocks the next level, and all aliens must be eliminated before Bay can advance. Players may need to retrace their steps to reach the elevated cheese, making route planning part of the gameplay.
Every element, from the pixel art sprites to the game logic and level design, was created by Lauren.