Jai Vardhan Singh › Case study

Case study · Android · Unreal Engine 5

The Ruffies

A free maze arcade game for Android, built start to finish by one developer: design, code, art direction, music and store release.

Get it on Google Play Press kit
The Ruffies feature art: Guddu, Jhappad and Shanto in a summer maze

At a glance

Status
Released, September 2026
Platform
Android 8.0+ — Google Play
Price
Free (ads + optional purchases)
Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Team
1 — Jai Vardhan Singh
Content
60 levels · 6 worlds · 11 Ruffies

The game

You guide a round, cheeky Ruffie through hand-built mazes, munching every gem while hungry chompers hunt you down. Each level has its own layout, a clock to beat and three stars to earn.

The 60 levels are spread over six seasonal worlds — Summer, Night, Monsoon, Autumn, Winter and Spring. Along the way you unlock 11 Ruffies, each with a personality of its own, and upgrade four power-ups: Magnet, Shield, Speed and Jump.

  • 60 hand-built mazes
    Every level laid out by hand.
  • 6 seasonal worlds
    Each with its own lighting, palette and decoration.
  • 11 Ruffies to unlock
    Guddu, Jhappad, Fufaji and eight more.
  • 4 power-ups
    Magnet, Shield, Speed and Jump, all upgradeable.

Trailer

How it was built

The Ruffies was started in 2024 and built mostly alongside a full-time job. A first playable version came together in a few months; making it good took far longer. Every system is solo work: gameplay, enemy AI, UI, save data, ads and in-app purchases, and the Play Store release.

  1. Made for budget phonesTested on entry-level Android hardware throughout, so the mazes stay smooth on the phones most players actually own.
  2. An art pass that changed the lookEarly feedback called the first version plain. The mazes were rebuilt with seasonal worlds, new decoration and a stylised character shader.
  3. Modern Play requirementsShipped as an Android App Bundle that meets Google Play's 16 KB memory page-size requirement, with native loading screens featuring the cast.
  4. Real footage onlyStore screenshots and the images on this page are captured from the game itself, so what you see is what you play.

Screenshots

Escaping the chompers in a summer maze The six seasonal worlds One of the 60 hand-built mazes Power-ups: Magnet, Shield, Speed and Jump

More

Press and creators: screenshots, logos, character art and a fact sheet are in the press kit. To get in touch, email mrcingstudio@gmail.com. Other work: portfolio · about Jai.