ViralMarket has always had a classic 90s style graphical user interface in the game, but out of the game it was pretty lacking. Constricted by a dark, horror themed color scheme in the title screen, the lack of time resulted in humble rectangles and ugly grey highlights. With more time and inspiration, these basic menus have been enhanced with art, and arrows.

ABILITIES MENU

First up is the ability menu. This menu is outside of the game where the player can shop for abilities, and then set four abilities that they’ve purchased. These abilities are taken into each new game. The look was a basic wire frame menu, but now it has a beefy, yet simple frame with a backing accurate to the color scheme of the title screen. Arrows were added to imply the directions the player can press, although one might assume that they’re just decoration if they didn’t have a highlight when pressed. There is a new controller hint at the bottom-right of the screen which can be toggled in the settings.

HAND WASH SKILL

After each hand-washing challenge mini-game, the player is presented with a screen how well they did. The previous screen was wire frames much like the game behind it still is. The notification was enhanced to include a thicker line combination and bubbles were added. A new font was added, but still imperfect. The garnish here is the subtle menu prompt. This is the one that had the most time put in it for various reasons. Rough drafts had adorably cute bubbles that didn’t really fit the vibe of the game. The size of the frame was wrong when added to the game. There weren’t enough air bubbles at first.

GAMEPAD SUPPORT SCREEN

Gamepad support is always mandatory for the games here. One of the early feedbacks from years ago was “I didn’t know you had gamepad support.” People just assume small games don’t have it. To ensure that people know, the player is presented with a gamepad screen first-and-foremost. For ViralMarket it’s different. It needed something special. More than just a gamepad, it had to be overtaken by the virus within the game and title screen.