Inspiration
I have always wanted to build a game from this unique perspective. When people watch a sea turtle release, it looks peaceful and charming from the outside. However, if you see it through the eyes of a newly hatched turtle, that first journey across the sand is a brutal, high-stakes battle for survival from the moment of birth. I wanted players to experience that tension firsthand as they fight their way across the beach to reach the ocean.
What it does
- Dodge Hazards: Steer through obstacles like rocks, tangled seaweed, washed-up driftwood, and falling coconuts.
- Evade Predators: Sneak past patrolling crabs on the ground and dodging pelicans and seagulls striking from above.
- Support Companions: Rescue stranded turtle squadmates by interacting with their distress prompts to heal them.
- Unlock Mobility: Earn coins by saving other turtles to purchase dashes, allowing quick evasive maneuvers through dangerous bottlenecks. ## How we built it
- HTML5 & JavaScript: Handled game loop logic, player controls, health tracking, and 2D canvas collision systems.
- Visual Studio Code: Served as our dedicated development environment to write, debug, and organize scripts.
- Google Gemini: Leveraged as an AI coding companion to troubleshoot logic issues and brainstorm implementation steps. ## Challenges we ran into Building this project was our first time developing a game in HTML and JavaScript with zero prior web experience. We had to rely heavily on tutorials just to understand how web scripts function, what tools to configure, and how to set up an environment in Visual Studio Code.
Our biggest technical hurdle was managing code stability while collaborating with AI. As the game grew more complex, successive iterations introduced subtle bugs, logic conflicts, and freezing errors that began to compound. At a critical point near the deadline, these AI-assisted code revisions broke vital game mechanics, making the latest build unplayable.
Rather than risking a broken delivery, we had to make a tough development call: roll back our work and submit our most stable earlier prototype. While this meant some of our planned late-stage features couldn't make it into the final submission, it taught us a crucial lesson about version control, technical debt, and knowing when to prioritize a stable build.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Complete From Scratch: We managed to take a game concept from pure imagination to a fully functional, playable web survival prototype using zero prior web experience.
- Core Game Loop: We successfully built collision systems, obstacle spawning, interactive companion rescues, and a working dash upgrade economy.
- New Development Stack: We adapted quickly to an entirely new coding environment, moving beyond visual engines to write structured, functional code directly in an IDE. ## What we learned
- Web Development Fundamentals: We learned how HTML structure, CSS styling, and JavaScript logic interact to bring interactive 2D gameplay to life.
- Paradigm Shift: Coming from 3D environments like Roblox Studio—where models and parts are placed visually—learning how to draw, position, and animate everything programmatically via code was a huge learning milestone.
- Modern Tooling: We became confident using Visual Studio Code, managing project directories, and executing modern debugging workflows.
- Effective AI Collaboration: We learned how to write precise technical prompts, critically review machine-generated code, and troubleshoot logic errors alongside an AI assistant. ## What's next for Untitled
- Audio & Sound Effects: Add atmospheric ocean sounds, ambient battle tension, and distinct audio cues for dashes, rescues, and predator attacks.
- More Hazards & Enemies: Introduce new beach obstacles like tide pools, quicksand, and diverse predators with unique attack patterns.
- Power-ups & Progression: Implement temporary shields, speed boosts, and cosmetic shell customizations unlockable with rescue coins.
- Mobile & Touch Support: Optimize the controls and responsiveness so the game can be played smoothly across mobile and tablet browsers.
Built With
- canvasapi
- csss3
- gemini
- html5
- javascript
- vscode
- web