Games Cultures‘Kat Snatch’

Background story

Nanny Mc Phee is a senile 82 year old lady living in the suburbs of Pleasant Ville. As a very forgetful granny, she

decided to home a cat for every person she came across for as long as she can

remember…

Unfortunately one afternoon after nanny had her dentures cleaned she found all her cats stuck in the tree in

her back garden.

So she asks her next door neighbor to help her retrieve them in return for

some home baked cookies.

Background Story

The gameYou play as either

The gameThe game interface is constantly scrolling.

You have to climb your way up the tree while collecting nanny Mc Phee’s cats.

You will use the arrow keys to climb up or down the tree or move left to right. You will use the space bar to jump to the branches above you. It is possible for you to move too slowly for the scrolling of the interface, if this happens its

Game Over!

The game

There is a certain amount of cats to collect before proceeding to the next level. These cats must be

collected within the time allocated.

If the time runs out its Game Over!

Comparison to Apple CatchApple catch was very simple, this meant

that players would become bored and stop playing. It was lacking the element of

challenge. To create this element, we added the use of time. In addition to this we

created enemies that needed to be avoided. The enemies affected various aspects of the game. In particular the life of the character.

If you life bar runs out its

Game Over!

Enemies

Coming into contact with the wrong cats causes the game pace to speed up for a few seconds.

Squirrels cause the deduction of time

Bats cause the deduction of life

Comparison to Apple Catch

Users can also become bored or stop playing a game if the game is too

difficult. The game needs to be hard enough but not too out of reach. It needs to be attainable. To combat the affect of the enemies, we introduced objects that

do the opposite affect of what the enemies do.

Objects

Golden leaves make you invincible for a few seconds and completely fill your life bar.

Green leaves increases your time.

Red leaves slow the pace of the game.

EnergyIn addition to enemies and life saving objects, we are also using the concept of

energy. As you can imagine climbing a tree uses up a lot

of energy!As you progress in the game, your energy will

deplete. So to maintain high energy levels you will need to eat the fruit available to

you from the tree.

If you are unable to maintain a high enough energy level to

continue itsGame Over!

LevelsAfter completing each level the player has an opportunity to collecting bonus

points as he or she parachutes down to the ground

Each level will basically remain the same. The only differences are:

• Faster game speed• Shorter time limit• More cats to collect

InterfaceThere will be a ‘how to play’ and ‘options’ screen

The interface in game will compose of:

• A life bar• An energy bar ( shaped like an apple)• A counter for the cats• A counter for the points

During game play phrases such as ‘well done’ and ‘try again’ will appear on the screen.

Sound

Sound is integral to our game. As we have seen in Apple catch, sound plays a large part in creating player satisfaction.

In addition to sounds that you may hear when coming into contact with objects or when collecting/ or loosing something, we will also be using phrases such as ‘oh yeah’, which occur when you achieve a portion of the objective.

Why is this game better ?•There is an element of challenge (enemies

prevent you from achieving your objective, and you have a time limit)

• Your efforts do not go unnoticed, you are rewarded with points and acknowledgements of

your achievements through the interface•This game creates another dynamic. One that is controlled by the player themselves (Energy

Bar)•There is a purpose for playing. Nanny Mc

Phee needs her cats back and you want those home made cookies !

Things that maybe reconsidered

This game may prove too difficult to produce in the time given. If this is the case we will re consider the following:

•The use of a life bar can be changed to 3 lives that disappear each time you get hit.

•The use of an energy bar, the game may be immersive enough without it.

•The extra points that can be collected is just a bonus for doing so well, therefore it wont be missed if time is a problem for us.

Sketches of in game appearance

This was the first sketch completed when generating

the idea

This is the second sketch. This was done after we

developed the idea further. It is more detailed.

Sketches of characters/objects

Sketches of the interface