Lootycle Design
Background
Game development creates vast numbers of digital assets, most of which are discarded or left unused after projects. With LootCycle, I explored how circular economy principles can address this issue by designing a platform for affordable storage, reuse, and monetization of game assets. My work focused on concept development, user flows, and interface design.
Problem Statement
The current asset lifecycle in game development is linear: assets are created, used once, and then forgotten. This results in unaffordable storage overheads, inaccessible archives, and repeated effort to rebuild similar content. There is no system that makes storing, retrieving, or reusing assets simple and sustainable, especially for indie studios with limited resources.
Goals
Design a platform that makes asset storage affordable and accessible, especially for indie studios.
Enable creators to reuse, share, and monetize unused assets instead of discarding them.
Build a circular system that reduces redundancy and digital waste in game development.
Ensure a seamless user experience through clear flows for uploading, organizing, and purchasing assets.
Circular Economy Overview
The circular economy is a design approach that moves away from the traditional linear model of make → use → discard. Instead, it focuses on keeping resources in use for as long as possible through reuse, recycling, and regeneration. This reduces waste, lowers costs, and creates systems that are both sustainable and efficient. Applying this principle to digital spaces like game development means finding ways to ensure that assets — once created — can continue to generate value instead of being abandoned.
Research and Reference
To ground LootCycle in real industry needs, I studied how game studios currently handle asset storage and reuse. My research highlighted that:
Asset Reuse Practices: Studios often store unused files on private servers or cloud drives, with little to no reuse across projects.
Indie Studio Constraints: Smaller studios avoid cloud storage due to recurring costs, leading to scattered local archives and asset loss.
Circular Economy Models: I referenced principles from circular design in other industries, applying them to digital ecosystems where reuse and redistribution are rare.
Existing Marketplaces: Platforms like Unity Asset Store or TurboSquid focus on selling finished assets but lack systems for archiving, rent-offset, or circular reuse.
These insights shaped LootCycle into a platform that combines storage, marketplace functionality, and circular design thinking.
Moodboard
The moodboard explores a playful yet professional visual style, drawing from gaming culture, digital marketplaces, and circular design cues. It balances bright, game-like elements (loot, coins, chests) with a clean UI aesthetic to ensure clarity and usability.
Style Guide
The style guide defines colors and typography that balance a playful gaming tone with professional clarity. Bold headings ensure strong visual hierarchy, while clean body fonts support readability across the platform.
Lootcycle's Core Features
Monthly, Pay-per-File Storage – Rent storage space per file on a monthly basis, avoiding costly bulk cloud plans.
Access & Pricing Control – Keep assets private, share for free, or monetize them with custom pricing.
Revenue Offset – Sales revenue can automatically cover monthly rent, making storage self-sustaining.
Collections – Group assets into packs or project folders for easy organization and retrieval.
Marketplace – A central hub to discover, share, and reuse assets, reducing redundancy across projects.
Key Screens
LootCycle’s key screens cover the full journey — from uploading assets and managing collections to purchasing and tracking revenue. The design emphasizes clarity, minimal steps, and playful but professional visuals
Reflection
Working on LootCycle gave me the chance to apply circular economy principles to digital ecosystems, a space often overlooked in sustainability. The project pushed me to balance systems thinking with user-centered design, ensuring the platform was practical for studios while staying true to broader ecological goals.
Explore the Full Case Study
This overview touches on the core idea, but the full case study goes further. Explore the complete revenue model, technical breakdown, and extended design decisions that bring LootCycle to life.
