Cats VS Flies

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  high scores!

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  Rules

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  frozen example

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  slowmo example

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  basic game

Inspiration

When I first read about Reddit's Silly Sh!t Challenge, I was instantly excited and began brainstorming ideas with my girlfriend. We both love cats, and after laughing through a few silly concepts, we landed on the idea of a chaotic kitchen where a cat zaps flies with a laser — not so far from reality in our home. That’s how Cats vs Flies was born.

What it does

Cats vs Flies is a fast-paced web game where you control a cat (armed with a laser) trying to zap as many flies as possible before time runs out. Power-ups and hazards randomly fall from the sky — some help you, others freeze you or reduce your time. It's quick, chaotic, and oddly satisfying.

How we built it

The project was built entirely using Bolt. Thanks to its simplicity and my background in web development, I was able to get a working version up and running in just a few hours. From there, I added features like explosions, power-ups, dynamic difficulty, and visual polish.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was sourcing all the visuals. Creating the right art for flies, the cat, bombs, explosions, and special effects could have slowed me down. Thankfully, with the help of AI image generation tools, I was able to design everything I needed without compromising the style or tone.

Another challenge was balancing the gameplay to keep it short and entertaining, while adding enough variety to avoid it feeling repetitive. I spent a lot of time testing and tweaking spawn timing, player feedback, and visual effects.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I'm proud of how quickly the game came together, and how fun it turned out to be. What started as a random joke idea turned into a fully working, playable game with personality. I also really enjoyed building something silly and complete in such a short time — from concept to launch.

What we learned

I learned how powerful Bolt can be for rapid prototyping, and how helpful it is to lean on tools like AI image generators when you're short on time or resources.

What's next for Cats VS Flies

I might expand the game with new features like new weapons, more chaotic power-ups, or even co-op play (two cats?). But for now, I’m happy that it exists and hopefully brings a few laughs and laser-zapped flies into people's day. 😺💥

Built With

• ai
• bolt
• devvit
• react
• typescript