Malware Detected
Global Game Jam 2026
Roles
Everything
Year
2025
Engine
Unreal Engine 5
Platform
PC
A short experimental, systems-driven game focused on interacting with a computer interface as a virus gradually escalates and interferes with player input. Log in to delete the virus before it destroys your computer.
Malware Detected was developed as a systems-driven experiment to push my understanding of Blueprint architecture beyond traditional level-based design. Rather than focusing on environment or exploration, I used this project to explore layered mechanics, UI-driven gameplay, and controlled state progression. It allowed me to strengthen my modular Blueprint structuring, improve how I separate system logic from presentation, and develop more scalable, maintainable frameworks. This project marked a shift in how I approach design, thinking less in isolated features and more in interconnected systems.
The Blueprint structure for Malware Detected was heavily centred around UI-driven systems and controlled state transitions. A major focus of development was building a layered widget architecture rather than relying on isolated, temporary UI elements. Instead of spawning and destroying individual widgets per interaction, I created a more persistent widget framework that managed visibility, state changes, and progression through controlled variables and event-driven updates.
One of the key technical challenges was preventing widget conflicts and ensuring clean execution flow as multiple systems interacted. To resolve this, I implemented structured communication between widgets and core Blueprint logic using custom events and clearly defined state variables, avoiding circular dependencies and unintended overlaps. I also focused on separating display logic from system logic, ensuring UI updates were driven by underlying gameplay states rather than hardcoded triggers.
This project significantly strengthened my understanding of Blueprint architecture within UI-heavy systems, particularly around state management, scalability, and maintaining clean, readable graph structures as complexity increased.