A 2D side-scrolling runner with an aim to create awareness about plastic pollution among children
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Touch Input
and Gestures
2D
Side-Scroller
Mobile
Target Audience
8+
CONCEPT AND STORY
The game is about a young penguin that responds to the call for a hero and sets out to fight the evil that plagues his colony. The concept for the “evil” plaguing the hero's world stemmed from the plastic pollution rampant in our oceans today. We wanted to use this in the game to inadvertently get players to acknowledge a very real problem in today's world.
The concept was driven by a goal to educate our target audience of 8 - 13 year old children about the dangers of plastic and the importance of fighting plastic pollution in the oceans. We hypothesize that children would connect more to a game where they get to play a hero as opposed to an experience that simply preached to them on plastic pollution. The sense of accomplishment in controlling the character that is on a mission increases their immersion.
Our hero's primary goal in a level is to slide to the bottom of the slope towards the monster while gathering speed to reach the optimum speed to burst through the plastic monsters.
GAMEPLAY
GAME MECHANICS
The player maneuvers through levels with the aim to defeat the monster at the end of each level and save his fellow penguins. The player avoids obstacles and races down the slope, reaching the optimum velocity to defeat the monster.
A meter displayed on the screen informs the player of their speed. Failing to avoid the obstacles reduces the speed of the player. If the speed is not high enough, the plastic monster doesn't die upon collision and the player restarts the level.
The player maneuvers using the following mechanics:
Jump
Double Jump
Slam Down
They can also activate power-ups, after collecting them in the game. One of the power ups is Zoom. It increases player's speed for a limited period of time and allows him to move through obstacles unharmed.
UNITY 2D CHALLENGE
We entered the game for the Unity 2D Challenge. It didn't win, however, was featured for a short duration in the community showcase video.
Our submission which explains how we used Unity 2D tools to optimize our development can be seen at this link