Indie Game: Particle Research

With a previous work shop session going over about projectile mechanics I got to cover a brief view at particle effects. Which we made a particle effect for our grenade projectile . This made me wonder how I could create my own for my indie game as I want to push myself to see what I could achieve in making my game. As it makes me wonder what kind of particle effects I could make and if I could use them for my game. As I would like a particle effect for my jump pad just so that the player could get a better idea of what the jump pad looks like and its purpose. As with the particle effect for the jump pad would be going up or the direction its pointing.