Ready. Set. GOAT!

Ready. Set. GOAT! Join Pip, the baby mountain goat, in this irresistibly fun coming-of-age survival adventure!
Story-driven narrative with adorable animations set the entire tone of the game.
Animated character states that reflect the nuanced challenges of mountain climbing and the delicate balance of skill and decision-making.
Thematic power ups, upgrades, rewards, and more!
Time your jumps carefully, or you'll be forced to start again.

Inspiration

I am a huge rock-climbing nerd, animal lover, and a big fan of survival resource games. The game basically wrote itself once I decided to change the player from a human climber into a cute and playful baby mountain goat! I was inspired by the climbing mechanics from Zelda Breath of the Wild, the small vs dynamic movements from actual rock-climbing, and the natural lifestyles and diet of real mountain goats.

What it does

There are 5 playable levels in this fun tactile prototype, effectively launching you into the story mode of this narratively rich coming-of-age survival adventure. It allows the user to utilize a variety of gestures, where you will balance both skill and strategy. It emphasizes moments of tension and excitement, similar to what you would feel in a classic arcade game. The individual decisions made to manage resources and stamina hold real weight, and contribute to satisfying skill progression throughout the game.

How I built it

95% Claude Code Pro, 5% Chat GPT for image creation and brainstorming. 100% reliant on using AI to create via prompt without any "hand coding" (including visuals, sounds, UI, and debugging).

Challenges I ran into

In the first couple weeks of the competition, I spent some time mentally tossing around a few ideas, but I wasn't set on diving into an official build just yet, as I was honestly unsure if I’d be able to pull it off. But I had come to spend so much time mentally crafting all the facets of this game in my head, that I became genuinely attached to it and decided–with only a week left to go–to fully embrace the challenge and go ahead with the build. I legitimately had to make every minute count. I chose work over sleep most days out of the week and even went as far as having to bounce back and forth between two Claude paid accounts as I hit the usage limits of both very very quickly. But I managed to somehow fit three weeks into one–all so I could turn my idea into a reality.

Working with AI was also a challenge in and of itself. Despite having provided clear instructions, it often took several attempts to get basic things to work smoothly without major bugs or issues. I even had to completely rewrite the way levels were generated. It took lots of trial and error, with most prompts (simple or complex) taking at least 15 mins to complete. But I learned that implementing clear guardrails and telling it to be usage-conscious seemed to help.

Accomplishments that I’m proud of

The game is immediately fun. Although it is a unique take on the classic survival and resource game, this vertical-scroller still has a relatable nostalgic feel. The core climbing loop is irresistibly enjoyable and it has a level of difficulty that makes you want to come back and play it over and over again, even if just to get better at it. Despite being just a prototype, it is able to tell a story surprisingly well and gets you invested into this little goat's adventure right away. A ton of heart went into the narrative and it really drove the whole vibe of the game and its mechanics.

What I learned

Building with AI is definitely a novel challenge as someone who has just recently learned the “hand-coding” approach. Some things (often times, even the simpler tasks) take significantly longer when trying to create them with AI rather than just doing it yourself. AI sometimes creates more problems than it solves, but it can actually produce some surprisingly good results, capturing the desired vibe. Building a game by prompting is both harder and easier than expected, but it is a fun way to quickly turn your idea into a legitimately functional game.

Much like the overarching theme of this story, I learned that even when you're under-experienced and maybe even a little nervous to take on a new challenge such as this, all it takes is putting one foot in front of the other--discovering that you are capable of earning your place among the herd and finding your own way to success!

What's next for Ready. Set. GOAT!?

This game is built to be cute, playful, and comical while also testing your strategy and skill in an engaging way. Future builds and dream updates would include custom hand drawn art (bringing my own work as an artist into the game), as well as some of the following satisfying features:

-A beautiful interactive map that allows you to progress through the story-driven narrative, which highlights the progressively complex regions within Thundergale. All peaks must be conquered in order to reach the herd. Each region will have its own unique aesthetic and set of increasingly difficult challenges along the way, requiring you to earn permanent upgrades to progress.

-An intelligent level-builder that allows the game to be played "forever" in Free Climb mode with the simple goal to survive and climb as far as you can without losing all your lives in a self-selected difficulty.

-Additional classic game features, including: save states, cosmetic character upgrades, quests and milestones, leaderboards, mini games/adventures, seasonal events, etc.