Fur the Game

Fur The Game is a first-person puzzle adventure that introduces players to a world of adorable AI-driven creatures called Furs. With unique abilities, personalities, and interactions, these creatures play a central role in solving environmental puzzles. Designed to combine engaging mechanics with emotional connection, the game stands out for its focus on fostering player-creature relationships, offering a wholesome and playful experience for gamers of all ages. The whimsical design and approachable gameplay are tailored to capture the attention of players who love cute aesthetics and strategic problem-solving.

Overview

Fur The Game was a collaborative student project developed with the goal of creating an engaging, player-focused experience featuring adorable AI-driven creatures. The project combined creative gameplay design with strategic problem-solving to stand out in a competitive space.

Goals

  • Win Game Competition Within 4 Months: I established the primary goal to win the MassDigi Game Challenge 2018, which required creating a polished demo and an impactful product pitch within a tight 4-month timeline.
  • Potential for Launch: A secondary goal was to release the game commercially post-competition, contingent on available resources and time during my final year of college.

Ideation & Strategy

Inspired by games like Slime Rancher and Pikmin, I saw an opportunity to blend the best mechanics of creature collection and command. At the time, no games on PC or consoles offered the same combination of controlling cute creatures to solve puzzles, filling a niche market. We aimed to differentiate Fur the Game by focusing on emotionally engaging AI and nurturing gameplay, appealing to a broad audience that enjoys low-stress, wholesome games.

Target Audience

The game was designed for family-friendly audiences, specifically:

  • Kids and parents who enjoy light puzzles.
  • Gamers who love building emotional connections with virtual pets.
  • Players seeking low-stress, relaxing gameplay experiences.

Slides from pitch document for the competition event.

Challenges & Solutions

Completing a Demo in 4 Months

  • Challenges:
    • We needed a fully functional demo, trailer, and pitch ready for the competition.
    • Time constraints required making tough decisions to scope down.
  • Solutions:
    • I scoped the game to one level as a vertical slice, showcasing core mechanics such as collecting, nurturing, and commanding Furs.
    • For the pitch, I conducted market research, created a low-scope roadmap, and emphasized the game’s niche appeal.

Designing Fur AI

  • Challenges:
    • The Furs needed to navigate environments, follow player commands, and interact with puzzles seamlessly.
  • Solutions:
    • I researched AI solutions in Unity and implemented an entity-based system with NavMesh technology.
    • This allowed Furs to move intelligently, trigger puzzle interactions, and adapt to their environment.

Enhancing Fur Appeal

  • Challenges: Furs had to stand out visually and aurally to attract and engage players.
  • Solutions:
    • Audio: I recorded voice samples with team members and refined them using Adobe Audition to create charming, unique Fur sounds.
    • Visuals: Collaborating with an engineer, we used Unity assets to implement dynamic fur effects and differentiated Furs by color and directionality, ensuring high performance and unique aesthetics.

Team and Technical Limitations

  • Challenges: As students, we faced limited access to art and animation resources and had to balance the project with other responsibilities.
  • Solutions: We relied on third-party assets and optimized workflows, focusing on minimal viable features to deliver polished results within constraints.

Slides from pitch document for the competition event.

Development Highlights

Core Mechanics

  • Collaborated with the team to prototype multiple gameplay interactions, refining the core mechanics of throwing, interacting, and commanding Furs.

  • Personally developed the AI behaviors for Furs, integrating NavMesh technology to enable them to navigate environments, follow players, and solve puzzles.

  • As the product lead and designer, I prioritized and made decisions to ensure satisfying feedback through engaging audio-visual cues, focusing specifically on one key mechanic to deliver a polished game feel.

  • Led teammates in optimizing performance and polishing gameplay experiences to ensure a seamless player interaction with the Furs.

Team Leadership

  • Initially, the team consisted of only two programmers and me as the designer and programmer. I took on a dual role to fill gaps in development and steer the design vision.

  • Added additional developers to the team to assist with launching the game and coordinated with designers, programmers, and artists to ensure smooth collaboration. Guided iterations on mechanics and design based on playtesting feedback to create an engaging gameplay loop.

Game Feel

  • Led the effort to focus on delivering one highly satisfying mechanic—throwing Furs—ensuring intuitive controls and polished animations that strengthened the bond between players and the Furs.

  • Integrated and ensured the Furs feel cute and adorable by implementing optimized fur physics feedback, blinking eyes, and carefully tuned audio responses to player interactions.

Furs design and game mechanics. Pages from design document

Fur AI logic and design

Demo, Pitch & Prize

  • Demo: Created a fully playable level demonstrating Fur mechanics, puzzle-solving, and AI interactions.

  • Pitch: Presented the demo to industry judges at the MassDigi Game Challenge 2018, securing the following awards:

    • Grand Prize (Best Business Plan & Gameplay)

    • Best Audio

    • Best College Beta

  • Showcases: Featured at PAX East 2018 and Boston FIG 2018, gathering valuable player feedback and building early community interest.

Launch

  • Post-competition, I released the demo as a free standalone experience with a complete, polished level.
    • This decision was driven by several factors: my team members graduated earlier than I did, making it difficult to continue full development, and the constraints of time and effort as a student balancing other responsibilities.
    • Despite these limitations, I prioritized ensuring the demo’s quality and polish before releasing it to the public.
  • Distributed keys to small influencers, garnering 50,000+ play sessions and 130+ positive reviews praising the game’s creativity and charm.
    • This achievement also met the download goals set during the pitch deck stage, demonstrating the game’s market appeal and potential reach.

Game review by player Zaxtor99

Learnings

  • Observing players interact with the game revealed valuable insights into user pain points and opportunities for improvement, reinforcing the importance of direct user feedback. I found it fascinating to see how users approached challenges, often uncovering issues I hadn’t anticipated.

  • Keeping the scope small early on allowed me and my team to quickly conceptualize, develop, and demo the game while focusing on its core differentiators. This approach was crucial given the tight timeline and ensured we could find the fun in the mechanics early.

  • Managing tight timelines and limited resources helped refine my ability to prioritize features and deliver a polished experience within constraints.

  • Developing AI behaviors and gameplay prototypes strengthened my skills in player-centric design, focusing on emotional engagement and niche market alignment.

  • By aligning creative decisions with audience preferences, we successfully captured players’ attention and built a memorable product.