Planning

Description

You have a virtual pet that needs to be taken care of. It can get hungry, thirsty, sleepy, bored, sick, and sad. It’s your job to take care of it, and as you do, it grows and learns how to communicate. The longer you play, the more you get to do with your pet. It can die due to neglect, but you can revive it or start over. You can only revive it once, though, so make sure to take care of it!

Idea

This is a hand-drawn clicker game. The pet is an AI that can progressively communicate and express needs. There are bars to show its most basic needs like hunger and thirst, and it uses facial expressions, and later words, to communicate the rest of its needs. Death is a result of how long it goes without a need met, and the time it can go without each need is based on reality (ex: a human can go three weeks without food and three days without water). There will be a pet naming function to help establish a deeper connection to the pet. The game will be relaxing and give the player a sense of purpose. There will be milestones to hit where the player will see a significant amount of growth in the pet as the game progresses. The purpose of the milestones is to reward the player for their hard work, and there will be other tasks and activities to do with the pet as it becomes more intelligent. The target audience will be those who enjoy games like Animal Crossing or Tamagotchi because the fun of the game will come from feeling fulfilled from taking care of the pet, along with activities to do with the pet. If it’s at high or max intelligence and permanently dies (as in, the one revive was already used), there will be a special, bittersweet goodbye to the player as it passes. The player will receive a special badge on their main menu screen if this happens. 

Inspiration

“A Little To The Left” by Max Inferno

“Nanomon” by Oscar Brittain

“My Personal Hilopet” by Hilovids

“Kukumushi Virtual Pet” by Dr. Cyril Sputterworth

“Melatonin” by Half Asleep

Original Notes

• Tamagotchi

• Bars for food and water

• Nurse back to health

• Can die if not taken care of

• Cute

• Clicker