What the Cat?! is an arcade puzzle game in development by Shrek 2 team (Alessandro Colantonio, Giuseppe Falso, Riccardo Fasano) at the Apple Developer Academy of Unina Federico II (Naples, Italy).
This article introduces the game idea and its development along the weeks.
<aside> ⚠️ Be Aware: At the moment most of the project is spaghetti-coded, so some interactions could be clunky and some bugs may appear. Also, we can’t add SFX until we refactor every interaction.
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Have you ever heard about the Schrödinger’s Cat Paradox? It is a thought experiment that illustrates the paradox of “quantum superposition” - yes, it’s just science blah blah, but it involves cats and boxes: if you put a quantum cat in a box, you’ll never know if it will be dead or alive until you open it; this means that a quantum cat inside a closed box is both dead and alive.
Anyway, we don’t understand anything about quantum physics, we just love cats and video games. That’s why we added some nonsense magic to our video game about cats.
“What the Cat!?” is an arcade puzzle game in which the players need to guess clients’ cryptic cat adoption requests by combining cats and absurd ingredients in a magical Schrödinger’s box. Players score points by fulfilling as many requests as possible in the available time.
In What the Cat?! players live the ultimate last adventure of the Great Wizard Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger, the most powerful mage ever**.**
After saving countless lives, after defeating all the greater evils appeared in the world, after learning all the powers, forces and spells known from the beginning of time, the Wizard Schrödinger has nothing else to do.
It’s time to retire and to dive into his hobby: cats.
It’s time to make people happy by opening a Cat Magical Shop and by casting the perfect kittens for the customers’ needs.
Creating cats using magic is easy, but it is mostly a trial and error process.
To have success in magical cats adoption, players need to read carefully the customers’ requests. By guessing as best as possible which elements they have to put in the Schrödinger’s box, they’ll be able to create the required cat.
Players can choose ingredients by tapping 1 to 3 elements, they’ll move automatically magically inside the box where a cat is already placed in.
Then, by clicking the “combine” button, the box will close.
Don’t worry about mistakes, they’re part of the process
After some magical shaking, a new incredible cat will pop up... Maybe - As we just said, it is all a trial and error process. You’ll learn your customers needs and the right combinations only with experience.
<aside> 📎 Are you a cheater? Read the Spellbook!
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