Bonus Game in progress

Pawned Out

A first-person pawn shop game in Unity. You buy low, sell high, haggle with whoever walks in, and now and then deal with trouble at the counter. Every one of those moments is a decision, so the interface has to make the numbers readable in a second.

Role
Game design, UX and UI, programming
Team
Two people
Engine
Unity 6, C#
Status
In development since May 2026

A shop counter full of decisions

Most of the game happens in quick trades with a queue of customers waiting. If a screen makes you hunt for a number, you lose the thread of the deal. So every screen starts from the same question: what does the player need to decide right now, and what's the one number that decides it?

First-person view of the pawn shop counter in Unity, with a till and shelves, cash and today's profit in the top left, the clock in the top right and an item hotbar along the bottom
Behind the counter, in the current build. Cash and today's profit sit top left, the clock top right, and the hotbar along the bottom, so the middle of the screen stays free for the shop.

Haggling you can read at a glance

Haggling is the heart of the game, so it gets the clearest layout. Their price and yours sit side by side in red and green. The customer's mood runs from calm to hostile, so you can see how far you can push before they walk. Fixed steps of 50, 100 and 200 make adjusting a price a single click, your budget sits top right, and there are only two ways out: make the offer or walk away.

Haggle screen: a customer called Hank with a mood bar from calm to hostile and a line of dialogue, a taxidermy bear head for sale, their ask of $781 against your offer of $1,200, buttons to change the price by 50, 100 or 200, Make offer and Walk away buttons, and your budget and skills on the right
Selling a taxidermy bear head to Hank. Every number that matters to the deal is visible without scrolling or switching screens.

Progress you can feel

Skills are only worth unlocking if you can tell what they do, so each one states its effect as a number, like a 10% better chance of a haggle landing. The end of each day gives you a grade and a short summary, then one button starts the next day, so there's a natural moment to stop or keep going.

Skill tree over the shop scene: skill points and categories on the left, a branch of people skills in the middle, and a card for Silver Tongue on the right showing a 10% bonus to haggle success and an Unlocked button
The skill tree sits over the shop rather than replacing it, and each skill card leads with what it changes.
Day 36 complete summary: a B performance grade, profit, customers served, items sold, total cash, a reputation change, and a Next day button
The end of a day: a grade, four numbers and how your reputation moved.
Pause menu with Shop stats open: total cash, today's profit and two more figures across the top, and a chart of the week below, with the menu down the left side
Pausing opens straight onto the shop's numbers, with the rest of the menu down the side.
Settings screen with Graphics, Audio and Gameplay tabs, and options for quality, frame rate limit, resolution, vsync and fullscreen
Settings follow the same pattern: tabs on top, one option per row.

Knowing what you're buying

When a customer brings something in, you appraise it before you haggle. Four checks tick off one by one, from the serial number to missing parts, so the wait builds a little tension. Then the item's rarity, an estimated value range and its condition land together, and there are only two choices left: make an offer or decline. Everything you own lives in the backpack on Tab, with the hotbar row underneath and a detail card that shows what an item is worth.

Appraisal screen in the game: an epic vintage pinball machine with an estimated value of $1,760 to $2,640, a Good condition badge, four passed inspection checks for serial number, structure, authenticity and missing parts, and Make offer and Decline buttons
Appraising a vintage pinball machine. The checks run first, then rarity, value and condition arrive at once.
The backpack open over the shop: an 18-slot grid, the nine-slot hotbar row below it, and a detail card on the right
The backpack. Tiles take the colour of each item's condition, and the detail card shows what it's worth.

I studied games, animation and VFX at college before computer science, and this is where both sides meet. So far I've done the game design, the UX research and the UI, and built it in Unity. It's still a work in progress, so these screens will keep changing.

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