Chudo

About the Project

Chudo was a mobile platform for creating games directly on a phone.

Users could build their own game world, customize characters, create objects and weapons, publish a game to the built-in marketplace, and play games made by other users.

In essence, the product combined two different modes inside one app: player mode and creator mode. The main design challenge was to make these two logics feel not like two separate products, but like one clear and coherent system.

My Role

I was the sole designer on the team and was responsible for the entire user experience of the product.

My scope included the design of the game world editor, avatar customization, object creation, weapon builder, in-game messenger, game preview tools, marketplace for user-generated games, and several parts of the in-game economy.

The project was complex not only visually, but also systemically. I had to design an interface for very different scenarios: sometimes the user was simply playing, sometimes building a world, sometimes customizing a character, and sometimes preparing a game for publication.

Starting Point

When I joined the project, the technical core of the game worlds had already been built.

The team had a working foundation for multiplayer worlds, but the product still lacked a clear user experience around game creation. My task was to turn a technically complex system into an interface that a regular mobile user could understand and use.

I started with the world building mode, because it became the foundation for the entire product logic that followed.

Game World Editor

The world editor was the main creation tool inside Chudo.

It was not just one screen, but a set of connected tools that allowed users to build a level, configure it, and prepare it for gameplay.

The editor had four main parts:

• Block building — users could build objects and environments from cubes, select the block type, and change its color.

• Structure management — several blocks could be combined into a structure, moved around the world, saved as an asset, and reused later.

• Weapon workshop — a separate tool for creating weapons, adjusting their appearance, and configuring gameplay parameters.

• World settings — level parameters: basic rules, environment, and world behavior during gameplay.

The main UX challenge was to fit this system into a horizontal mobile interface without turning it into a professional editor. Users had to understand what to do even if they opened the app just to play and then decided to create their first world.

Block Building

The basic editor mechanic was built around cubes.

Users selected a block, set its color, and placed it in the world. From these simple elements, they could build walls, platforms, buildings, decorations, and other parts of a level.

For the interface, it was important to make this process fast: choose a block, place it, change the color, keep building. No unnecessary settings or long menus.

Structures and Assets

A separate part of the logic was built around structures.

A structure was a combination of several blocks that could be treated as a single object. Users could build an object from cubes, move it inside the world, save it as an asset, and use it again later.

The same logic worked for user-generated content: users could publish their own structures, and use assets created by other players inside their own worlds. This made the editor not only a building tool, but also a part of the wider Chudo ecosystem.

Weapon Workshop

The weapon workshop worked as a separate asset editor.

Users could create weapons for their games, customize their appearance, and configure gameplay parameters. A finished weapon could be saved, used in the user’s own world, or published for other players.

Here it was important to keep the same logic as in the other Chudo tools: the user creates an object, configures it, saves it, and can then place it inside their own game.

Character Customization

Avatar customization was an important part of the user experience.

Players could choose a character head, clothing, accessories, colors, and overall style to create their own identity inside the game.

The goal was to make customization feel expressive without turning it into a complex editor. Users had to quickly create a character, see the result, and return to playing or building their world.

Preparing a Game for Publication

Chudo was not only an editor, but also a platform for publishing user-generated games.

After creating a world, users could prepare the game for publication: set up its visual presentation, icon, title, and other elements that would help other players recognize it.

This was important for the full product loop. The user was not just building something inside an editor, but creating a standalone game that could be shown to others.

Outcome

Chudo was published on the App Store and quickly attracted active users.

People created their own games, built game worlds, customized characters, and shared content inside the platform.

The main problem of the project eventually turned out to be not the product idea or the design, but the technical infrastructure. Due to complex server architecture and scalability issues, the project was later shut down.

At the same time, the UX and visual design of the platform were fully implemented and used by thousands of players.

Conclusion

Chudo became one of the most complex products I worked on as a designer.

Here I had to think not only about individual screens, but about an entire system: creation logic, player behavior, reusable controls, game mechanics, customization, publishing, and the user-generated content loop.

This project gave me strong experience in designing mobile tools that look simple on the surface, but hide a lot of product and technical complexity underneath.