Emote/Emotions Wheel

Design a radial emote wheel for a game character, centered on quick expression choices like wave, dance, laugh, and sit. It opens over gameplay, so the layout has to read instantly and work with a thumb on a controller or touch input.

Use the center as the anchor: the character or current selection state should stay visible while the emotes fan out around it. The wheel needs clear iconography and short labels so players can pick an expression without pausing to decode the menu.

This is about speed and personality. The player should feel the character’s attitude change as they move around the wheel, with the selected emote previewed before commit and the rest of the game still visible behind it.

Include a few practical states: default open, hovered/targeted slice, locked or unavailable emote, and the moment an emote is triggered. Keep the interaction playful, but the selection path should stay precise.

Make each slice show both an icon and a tiny motion cue in the preview, so players can tell wave from dance before they release.