“Night Fish” is an arcade horror game about fishing the dark depths of the ocean (secretly it’s a dodge-em-up with a humorous demonic twist). The controls are A/D or the Left and Right arrow keys to move the bobber back and forth to weave around the rocks as it steadily moves downward.

You can download the game here: Night Fish

Reason

Night Fish was made for the Fishing Horror Game Jam 2: Social Fishtancing Game Jam that took place through the month of October and November, 2020.

Goals

For this jam, I really wanted to test my knowledge of the Unity engine and C#, so I decided to create the game without looking at any tutorials or referencing Stack Overflow. I wanted to make a simple, humorous horror game that didn’t take too long to play (10 minutes total). The game is meant to simulate a Game Boy Advanced type of game, with a small screen (320 x 280), and simple controls.

Challenges

Of course not having any material to reference and working on the game solo gave a lot of challenges, especially when it comes to parts that I am not as familiar with, like the art and animation. The game jam took place over two months, but due to work and school constraints I was barely able to finish on time. I also tried to cut corners in terms of source control because I was the only one working on the project, but unfortunately a large portion became corrupted and erased, causing me to remake most of the art and animations.

Solutions

Trying to stay on top of all the tasks that need to be done can be daunting as a solo developer, so I made a detailed list of all the tasks the needed to be completed on a private Trello board. This allowed me to avoid the anxiety that comes with thinking of large projects and focus on small, simple tasks. I used knowledge that I gained about abstract classes and ways to other useful tools to help me create the game. There are some parts of the game that I cut out, some due to time, and others because of lack of knowledge. I avoided having to save the game, and complicated cutscenes like shutting the entire game down and opening it back up in another scene.

Reflection

“Night Fish” may be one of my favorite games that I’ve made so far, just for all the charm, silliness, and secrets that I put into it. It’s not a large game or complex game by any means, but I think it’s a strong example of how my design skills are developing, and a good test to my overall level of game creation.