Bubble Pursuit: Idle Tycoon

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Inspiration

Bubble Pursuit: Idle Tycoon was inspired by our love for relaxing, satisfying mobile games that reward both active play and passive progress. We wanted to build an experience that feels rewarding no matter how long you play—whether it's an intense 1-hour session or just checking in for a few minutes. Visually, we were drawn to soft colors, playful elements like boba, and a vibrant world that invites exploration.

What it does

In Bubble Pursuit, players explore a colorful 3D world to collect pearls—the core in-game currency—by running over them. Pearls can also be earned passively while the player is idle or away from the app. Players earn idle pearls every 15 seconds and while offline they earn pearls every 30 minutes. Players can spend pearls to buy pets, items, and boosts that increase their collection efficiency. The world includes bonus golden pearls that require light parkour to reach, and poison pearls that reduce your total—adding challenge and variety to the gameplay loop.

How we built it

We began by documenting all our game ideas and organizing them into categories like mechanics, UI, shop systems, and upgrades. From there, we created a roadmap to guide development. We started with mockups of the world map and UI, then moved on to modeling assets and building systems in TypeScript. The map layout was designed with player experience in mind—strategically placing pearls, obstacles, and challenge elements to guide exploration. We continually tested and refined the game’s performance, visuals, and mechanics to deliver a smooth mobile experience.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was balancing the active and idle systems so the game felt satisfying without overwhelming the player. We also had to carefully place golden pearls to ensure they felt rewarding to find, without making them too difficult. Designing a UI that communicated the core mechanics clearly on small mobile screens took multiple iterations. Coordinating tasks and polishing assets in a short time frame also pushed our planning skills to the limit.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re especially proud of our custom UI and sound design, which give the game its unique feel. The polish of the visual feedback, smooth collection loops, and addictive sound cues create a satisfying and cohesive experience. We're also proud of the immersive map and the interplay of mechanics that encourage exploration.

What we learned

We learned the importance of planning ahead—organizing ideas early helped us stay on track throughout development. We also gained experience in balancing player experience with performance constraints, designing intuitive interfaces, and creating satisfying game loops. Most importantly, we learned how to make a world feel alive and worth revisiting.

What's next for Bubble Pursuit: Idle Tycoon

We plan to expand the game with new zones, more pets and items, and deeper idle mechanics. We’re also looking into social features and player progression systems that reward long-term play. Ultimately, our goal is to continue growing Bubble Pursuit into a relaxing, rewarding world that players love coming back to.

Built With

• adobephotoshop
• adobesubstancepainter
• blender
• horizonapi
• typescript