Concept Statement:

Play as Willie, an energetic and lovable dog on a mission to collect his lost squeaky balls while dodging pesky, buzzing flies. Collect rare bits of pasta and power up Willie during his cute gathering adventure!

Concept Development:

The idea for Willie, Fetch!  was inspired by my dog Wilbur and his love for squeaky toys and pasta, as well as his intense fear of flies. Willie’s design comes from a series of cartoon sketches I have done of my dog (see Concept Art 1).  I want to include my love for music production so I will be producing unique music and sounds for Willie, Fetch! Hopefully this will create an exciting atmosphere that enhances the cute visuals.

I’m using a subtractive design of Badluck Butter Chicken Flies the Unfriendly Skies (Badluck Butter Chicken). My game will focus on two main ideas, collecting and avoiding. In a similar way to Badluck Butter Chicken (gameplay shown in Image 1), there will be power ups for protection.

The Audience:

For this game, the main player groups targeted are casual gamers, children, and dog enthusiasts. The characters and sounds will likely appeal to children while the hand drawn features will engage indie gamers. Willie, Fetch! will be ideal for consumers with busy schedules and casual players looking for a sweet but exciting game.

Brief Description of the Game:

You are a little Jack Russell on a mission to collect all your squeaky balls to achieve the highest score possible. But you must avoid the annoying flies! You can replenish your strength and temporarily become immune to flies by eating the falling pasta.

Key Features:

• Adorable dog character
• Colourful balls
• Hand drawn assets
• Unique sounds- manipulated sounds and synthesis.
• Original music
• Temporary power ups

Genre:

Willie, Fetch! will be categorised as:

• Casual- the game will have simple controls and will be designed for quick gameplay sessions.
• Arcade- the endless collecting mechanics will resemble a range of classic arcade games. 
• Indie- the art style will give the game an indie feel.

Competitive Analysis:

Willie, Fetch! is similar to Badluck Butter Chicken, which was released in the 2024 JS13K Games competition. The reviews on the game’s webpage commend its “simple concept” and “polished gameplay” (Jupiter Hadley 2024). Badluck Butter Chicken also included original music, which engaged many audience members, who enjoyed the “catchy music” (Cody Ebberson 2024) and “loved the music!” (Michel Sabchuk 2024).

The 2022 game Falling Up the Stairs by MurdyBird is a similar game title to Willie, Fetch! It is available on itch.io and is a pixel 2D arcade game. Although it has limited reviews, all are positive and reveal the gameplay’s success.

Arcade games that involve endless collection and scores are popular. For example, the 2014 game Crossy Road by Hipster Whale revolves around a relatively simple endless hopper gameplay. It encourages players to try and beat their high scores. Crossy Road has had over 250 million downloads and won a variety of awards (Hipster Whale 2024). 

Game Treatment and Concept Art:

Setting:

The game will be set in a fixed, hand drawn park scene. The cosy background will be Willie’s playground. It will include watercolour texture like that found in games such as Slice of Sea (see Image 2) and Gris (see Image 3).

Mechanics:

The game will be a WebGL build and playable on itch.io. The balls in Willie, Fetch! (see Concept Art 2) will impact the player’s score. The game will be endless with the aim of collecting the highest score possible. Willie needs to avoid flies (see Concept Art 3), otherwise it is ‘Game Over’.

 Willie, Fetch! will be a two-button controlled game. The player will use the left and right arrow to position Willie along the x-vector to catch and avoid the falling objects. The ‘Willie’ game object will have a simple walking animation, a repeating four cell animation (see Concept Art 4). Willie will be able to collide with the balls, flies, and pasta (see Concept Art 5). These game objects will include scripts that identify score addition, enemy roles causing ‘Game Over’, and power up activation. The power up will be classified as a ‘child’ of the ‘Willie’ game object and will provide temporary protection from flies.

UI:

Willie, Fetch! will have an overall menu that includes buttons and additional scenes for ‘Play’, ‘Sound’, and ‘High Scores’. During gameplay there will be a score counter at the top of the screen.

Images: 

Image 1: Badluck Butter Chicken

Image 2: Slice of Sea

Image 3: GRIS

Concept Art:

Concept Art 1: Willie Design

Concept Art 2: Squeaky Balls

Concept Art 3: Flies

Concept Art 4: Basic Animation 

Concept Art 5: Pasta Power Up

References:

Earl, Cliff. 2024. Badluck Butter Chicken Flies the Unfriendly Skies. JSK13. Desktop.

Skutnik, Mateusz. 2021. Slice of Sea. Mateusz Skutnik. Mircosoft Windows.

Nomada Studio. 2018. GRIS. Devolver Digital. PS5/Xbox One/Switch/PC.

Hadley, Jupiter. 2024. "Comment on '(Badluck Butter Chicken Flies the Unfriendly Skies)'" JS13KGames. April 10, 2025. https://js13kgames.com/2024/games/badluck-butter-chicken-flies-the-unfriendly-skies.

Ebberson, Cody. 2024. "Comment on '(Badluck Butter Chicken Flies the Unfriendly Skies)'" JS13KGames. April 10, 2025. https://js13kgames.com/2024/games/badluck-butter-chicken-flies-the-unfriendly-skies.

Sabchuk, Michel. 2024. "Comment on '(Badluck Butter Chicken Flies the Unfriendly Skies)'" JS13KGames. April 10, 2025. https://js13kgames.com/2024/games/badluck-butter-chicken-flies-the-unfriendly-skies.

Hipster Whale. 2024. “Crossy Road Classic Press Kit”. Crossy Road. Accessed April 10, 2025. https://www.crossyroad.com/crossy-road-classic-press-kit.