Shinobi’s appearance

Incorporating Shinobi turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated, primarily because I’m aiming to (still working on it, lol) port this game to mobile while keeping it simple for lab assistants who may not be familiar with gaming. Traditional controls like arrow keys, the space bar, or a controller could feel frustrating or unintuitive for them.

This little guy—Shinobi—would still follow your blue blade across the screen, just like in Fruit Ninja. But I wanted more than that. I wanted the player to feel a deeper sense of connection and ownership, almost like they were actively involved in Shinobi’s journey. I envisioned it feeling similar to caring for a Tamagotchi pet, where Shinobi becomes more than just a game element—a companion in the adventure.

I also wanted the experience to be as accessible as possible—literally. My goal was for even a 5-year-old to play the game with ease. To achieve this, I decided to stick with a point-and-click system using the mouse, which, in theory, should translate more seamlessly to Android and other mobile platforms.

I had taken several excellent courses on Udemy by James Doyle, including Learn to Create a Metroidvania Game Using Unity & C# and Complete 2D Platformer in Unity C#. Along with his YouTube channel, these resources provided me with enough 2D experience in Unity to modify the sprite to follow the blue blade, rather than relying on the typical input system of arrow keys or a controller commonly used in most 2D platformer games.

For the art style, I leaned towards an old-school Nintendo aesthetic to evoke a "stay in your pajamas and play games on Saturday morning" vibe. Since time in the lab is very limited for training purposes, I’m designing the game to ensure that even the most unskilled players can complete a full playthrough in about 30 minutes while still enjoying the experience.

I added a damage system to the E. coli, indicated by their changing expressions, as well as a particle system that activates when they reach 0 health (health bars still need to be added 🙂) or after being hit three times by Shinobi. As more bacteria were added, I started to see a story take shape and lore slowly begin to form.

Hello Streptococcus!