Game Developer Story
Push Out began with a small contradiction I kept noticing around me: smartphones could connect people across the world, but they often isolated people who were sitting right next to each other.
I was at a university lecture. The people in the first rows were at least pretending to pay attention. The people in the back were already somewhere else - scrolling social feeds, listening to music, or playing games. The person next to me was trying to set a new record in a popular mobile game.
I remember watching him play and thinking: why am I only a spectator? There was enough screen space for two people to play together. Maybe even three or four. The controls would have to be extremely simple, but the idea was clear - make a mobile game that brings people together around one screen.
In 2014, I was a university student, an iOS developer, and a little obsessed with the idea that a phone screen could become a small shared table instead of a private wall.
The First Prototype
The first prototype took two days.
It was a tiny floating platform with four rotating circles. Each circle was controlled by a touch zone on the screen. The goal was simple: wait for the right direction, push your opponents out of the platform, and be the last player standing.
That small prototype became the foundation for Push Out - a local multiplayer arcade game about quick reactions, friendly chaos and competition between friends.
Of course, a prototype is only the beginning. It took about a year of careful work to turn that simple idea into a finished game: animated island worlds, unusual characters, a single-player labyrinth mode, Game Center achievements, leaderboards, progress sync between devices and localization into multiple languages.
The World Drawn by Hand
Push Out was built by a small team.
I designed and developed the game for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch using Objective-C, SpriteKit and GameKit. I worked on the core gameplay, controls, physics-like interactions, Game Center integration, single-player progression and the overall product experience.
Tatsiana Bekert created the visual world of Push Out. And when I say she drew the game, I really mean it: every character, background and animation frame was drawn by hand on paper before being brought into the game. Her drawings gave Push Out its warm, handmade look - island creatures, puppet-like motion, simple shapes and vivid colors.
Pavel Ignatovich composed the light guitar soundtrack that helped the game feel more playful and alive.
Roman Shabohin created the website and gave the project a proper home outside the App Store.
What It Meant
Push Out is a small game, but it still represents something I care about as an engineer: building technology that feels human, playful and social.
I wanted a phone screen not to separate people, but to become a small table where friends could gather, compete, laugh and push each other out of the arena.