Octopus's Garden

“Octopus's Garden” is an interactive video game in which the player controls an octopus, collecting flowers for its underwater garden while dodging sharks. Special power-ups, such as a rainbow flower that awards 10 points at once and a shell shield that grants temporary invincibility, keeps the game interesting and complex. Additionally, the longer the player survives, the harder the game gets, as sharks spawn more frequently and move faster, keeping the experience engaging at all times. The concept was inspired by the lighthearted whimsy of the Beatles song of the same name, imagining a bright underwater world full of color. I also wanted to recreate the feeling of the simple yet addictive mobile games I grew up playing on my dad's phone, like “Flappy Bird” and “Banana Kong”. In these games, the mechanics are intuitive but the challenge keeps you engaged, which was an approach I really tried to capture within this project. The central design question for this project was “How can I create a visually distinctive game experience using only pixel art and code?” Rather than relying on existing assets, I designed everything from scratch in pixel art, which gave the game a more personal and cohesive look. This project was definitely a significant personal achievement. Before this class, I had never coded before, so I am definitely walking away with a whole new skill set. Through this project. I learned how to build a fully functional interactive game in p5.js and implement game mechanics like collision detection, spawn logic, and progressive difficulty. Along the way, I had to solve technical problems that deepened my understanding of coding. Most importantly, I learned that design and coding are inseparable, as every visual choice affects how the game works and every line of code shapes the player's experience.