You Can Shrew!

"Help Water Shrew reach the bottom of the ocean to retrieve an unknown relic in 28 days - when Winter starts. Skill won't be enough. Build your courage, believe in yourself, and you can reach your goals!."

I made the game to break my 3 year block. However, I still had many projects going which I gave up on between this and my last game. The game was made in C# and was my first release in Godot 3.

The game was made to be a casual, one handed mobile game but still offer a challenge, as this was the type of game I was looking for at the time. I also wanted to test out an idea I hade for a rogue-like where the game takes place over multiple days with a time limit, as I am a very big fan of Pikmin 1.

First Gameplay Loop Overview

The way I went about achieving my goal was by coming up with a very simple gameplay loop like one of those others you would find in mobile games. In this case, the player must simply get as far as they can by eating shrimp, giving themselves energy to swim further down. The player also has a oxygen bar which is constantly draining which can only be replenished by eating yellow shrimp.

Along the way are two main enemies:

• Fish: spawn halfway between a shrimp and the furthest screen edge.
• Urchin: spawn halfway between a shrimp and the next one.

The way these enemies work is effective as it constantly forces the player to make decisions about how they are going to tackle the next set of shrimp.

Trick system: the game also has a trick system where the player can do a trick by quickly dragging away from a shrimp after eating it. The more tricks the player does, the higher the number of DNA coins the player gets upon collection.

DNA coins and shop: the player can spend their DNA coins on one of three upgrades: health, lives and stamina. They can access the shop simply by letting go of the screen. However, this removes their entire trick combo.

Second Loop: The Long Game

As previously mentioned, the game takes place over 28 in game days and the player loses if they reach the final day. From the shop menu, the player may also exit the current run. The total amount of DNA they collected throught the current run is then multipled by a value which increases with distance. This keeps the player constantly wondering if they should risk continuing or stop while they are ahead and cash in their DNA, as this total can be spent on permanent health, lives and stamina upgrades.

A Failed Experiment

I would consider the game an overral failure. The main reason is that the game is too hard, too much choice is put on the player and it is not interesting enough.

Too hard: the game is simply too hard as stamina drains extremely quickly. The player is forced to make very slow progress, which can cause manny fustrating runs as the player practically loses everything.

Too much choice: as a player, choosing when exactly to quit is too much. Also, stamina will always be the best upgrade, whereas lives and health are simply wastes of coins. If I made the game again, I would likely simply have coins go towards a level up system which occurs automatically. To keep the player focused on the moment.

Not interesting enough: unfortunately, the game is also lacking any interesting qualities, such as graphics or new areas and enemies. However, the present enemies I am very fond of as they contantly create difficult scenarios which the player must overcome.

Overall, if I tried again, I'd focus on this element of the game where the player must make moment to moment decisions about taking risks. I would also likely come up with a better way of making the trick system which makes it easier and more approachable. I would likely have the player traverse new areas with unique obstacles, offering new risks.

I would likely keep the limited time system, as it still has a lot of potential. However, it should really be the only long term pressure the player should have to think about.