Take flight with the award-winning Skye, the latest PlayStation First graduate

Hi there! We’re Puny Astronaut, a team of eight soon-to-be-graduates from Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland. We’re currently working on Skye, a relaxing exploration game for PlayStation 4.

So, what is Skye?

Skye is set in a world that couldn’t be happier to see you. Wander around as the titular friendly flying dragon, dashing through dandelions, strumming crystal chimes and diving for pearls in a sprawling coral reef. There’s no wrong way to play; help the ship captain find his golden treasure, or take your time flying around the countryside (inspired by Norwegian fjords and highland coasts) – the world is there for you to enjoy at your leisure.

The beginnings of Skye – the PlayStation First academic program

Our team started working together on group projects for ‘serious games’, so when it came to applying for Dare to Be Digital (now relaunched as Dare Academy), an international games-development competition, I think we were all looking to work on something a little more laidback.

During the Dare to Be Digital showcase, Luke Savage from the PlayStation First Academic Development Program visited the team. As well as learning about several other student projects, Luke provided insightful feedback on the appeal of our game and how we could further develop its design. The feedback we received and access to Abertay’s PS4 development kits helped refine Skye, and enabled us to bring it to PlayStation.

Making the prototype

Creating the original prototype in the eight weeks before the public showcase at Dare to Be Digital was all about keeping development moving forward. We had taken two weeks beforehand to work out a design which laid out the world, puzzles and visual style. Once we started making it, we knew that iteration was not a luxury we could afford! We worked pretty much non-stop for the following two months, coming into university every day and working through the backlog, asset by asset.

It was tough, but seeing the game come together so quickly meant there was always an air of excitement to see what progress we could make by the end of each day. We were working right up until the night before the competition… and a little bit into the morning! By its end, we were exhausted, but all the blood, sweat and tears we put in really showed when playing the prototype – it was something we were hugely proud of.

Scooping the Channel 4 prize

The experience the audience had when they played the game was exactly what we had been hoping to achieve. People laughed when they got stuck in a bottle, they held their headphones tighter to hear to the characters muttering to one another, and they beamed when the sparkling leaves returned to the grand tree.

 
Children as young as three, along with their grandparents, could delve into the game and fully enjoy it. From our perspective, this is what helped Skye win the Channel 4 prize: it was an alternative to louder, more intimidating experiences, and it appealed to a spectrum of traditional and non-traditional players. Since then, All 4 Games (Channel 4’s games publishing division) has been ready to offer advice in helping us achieve our vision for the game.

Skye is designed for children, families, casual gamers, and anyone else who might feel burnt out by a barrage of explosions and bullets. We’ve done everything we can to make its world look inviting and playful, and can’t wait to for you to pick it up on PS4, later this year.