With the idea for a shield the player would control, our group explored a variety of different mechanics and genres until we reached our finalized concept. 

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In one iteration, the bullets would ricochet off the shield, making the player figure out how to get the bullets to hit the button and open the door. Another iteration explored the idea of a bullet hell game where the player juggles defending themselves whilst making progress upwards. This introduced the idea that the shield could be a tangible platform which we all enjoyed. 

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Using our ideas, we then looked to how they would fit into the main shield + platform mechanic, prioritizing simplicity above all else. We wanted to ensure the mechanic was easy to understand but could then become more complex with subsequent levels. We took the bullets from the bullet hell genre and planted them at a fixed point to better work as a puzzle platformer. Then we focused on creating the first few levels to see how we would introduce the mechanics to the player, what forces the player to think about the mechanic, and to look for any inconsistencies we overlooked.