Game Testing All in One (Game Development Series)

Powerups

Powerups are items that give your character some kind of temporary bonus. You might need to drive over them, run over them, trigger a special item in a puzzle, or hit a special sequence on your game controller or keypad. The TFD template in Figure D.1 covers acquiring the powerup, using its abilities , canceling the powerup, checking for powerup expiration, and stacking powerups. This same template could also be used for RPG and adventure games where a player can trigger temporary effects from a weapon, get a temporary boost from an item, or receive temporary "buff" spells from other characters .

Figure D.1: Powerups TFD template.