Hello. I am looking for an unpaid, hobbiest game developer to help me continue to work on a fully functional game prototype built in PlayCanvas that I have built as a hobby. I intend to release and monetize the game once it is complete.

About the Game
The game is entitled "Battle Runes."  It is some strange mixture of scrabble and word search, but instead of English letters it uses Viking runes. Each rune represents an English letter. The game takes place on a board, which is a grid of any size (4x4 for example). Not all squares on the grid are required to exist (there can be holes) but there can never be an incomplete path from one square to the other. The game starts with all squares on the board populated by random Runes. The player clicks and drags Runes around the board from one square to the other, costing them "moves" in the process. Runes can also be stacked vertically if they are the same, which adds both literal and figurative depth to the game. The main point-scoring mechanic is to create English words (like "war", "hello", "sky", etc...) using the viking Runes. Words are automatically found by the game using any of the 8 cardinal directions, just like a word search. Points are rewarded to the player for each word they create, and they get bonus points if a word has extra Runes stack on top.

History
The current PlayCanvas prototype is actually the third revision of this game, but it is the one that has made the most progress. The first two revisions were in Unity, and were actually multiplayer games. I abandoned Unity when I found PlayCanvas and ended up rewriting the entire thing in a few weeks versus the few months it took me with Unity. Obviously the advantage was Javascript.

Who Am I
I am a full time software developer with a job at an engineering firm. I code daily in C, C++, Javascript, and PHP. I am a full stack developer, creating UI, and backends on Linux, Windows, and even embedded devices (hence the C and C++). I had no idea how to program 5 years ago, and have been learning every language I can get my hands on since. I have worked my way up in my company from a software tester to my current full stack position. 

I went to game design school about 10 years go to be an artist, so I also have a lot of 3D and 2D experience. But I rarely do that anymore, hence the amazing artwork you will see in the below screenshots. Eventually I will find an artist to replace all prototype assets.

Why I Need You
The game concept came from a good friend of mine who, at some point, was heavily involved in the design of the game. He has since floated away from the picture. As I enjoy focusing on programming mechanics, I need someone to help me continue to define the game, including at least a few major modifications. Currently, the game is functional. You can actually win in Adventure Mode or play "forever" in Arcade Mode. The problem is.. the game isn't really that fun. I played a lot of Farm Hero and Juice Jam, and these games kept me coming back because of the challenge and allure. Currently, the game is challenging, but mostly out of bad design. It also feels like the game is really missing some core mechanics. 

Thus, I am looking for someone who wants to spend time playing the game and figuring out some new mechanics, major or minor, to implement. This must be more than "you should make it like this game.." I am looking for someone who really wants to develop a fun game.

You Are a Good Fit If...
1. You really enjoy the design aspect of game development
2. You have original ideas, but know how to borrow existing mechanics from good games
3. You have 2-5 hours per week to analyze the game, discuss ideas via voice chat, and create a technical document for the game mechanics
4. You have strong writing skills (technically) 

Bonuses
Strong story writing skills for Adventure Mode
Private PlayCanvas account

Screenshots
I always hesitate to share the game outright, because literally all the source code can be stolen when using PlayCanvas. I currently have a private account on PlayCanvas to protect this, but will share a temporary public version for those interested by PM only. So here are some screenshots (please enjoy the prototype models and art :] )

Screenshot 1
Level 1 starts out with an easy board. Currently, the player is trying to create the word "air" as represented by the secondary word board. Lots of "i"s available. One "a". But no "r"s. In order to get an "r", the player will have to start stacking similar Runes on top of each other to free up space. New Runes fall from the sky to fill empty squares!


Screenshot 2
As an example of the main mechanic, dragging and dropping Runes around, the player has clicked the "s" and has swapped it with the "i" (for no real reason..!). Without committing the move, the game has given the player a preview of what would happen if they swapped the "s" and "i".


Screenshot 3
In this screenshot, you can see Rune stacking in effect. The player has stacked a bunch of "i"s on top of each other... there's no limit, and it can get pretty funny when you stack lots of runes (queue gravity!).


Screenshot 4
Arcade Mode produces completely random boards, but ensures that there are no unreachable squares, thanks to a really amazing JS pathfinding library. You can actually see the pathfinding library in action (follow the blue highlights). Currently the player has swapped the "g" (looks like  <>) and the "b". The pathfinding highlights all the moves the player would have to make if they could only move a Rune one square at a time. This swap will cost 6 moves. Thankfully the pathfinding library finds the shortest path!!

Thank you for reading this far. Please PM or reply here if you would like more information.