SLiNG - Cat Protector is a mobile game where the player protects a cat from an incoming army of bees by slinging a basketball at the flying foes. This game was a personal project since graduating from KSU, so I was the sole designer. In SLiNG - Cat Protector, players can choose what cat they would like to protect before entering the field of play. There, they must protect their chosen cat by pulling the basketball back and releasing it in order to hit the bees with a strong shot. Hitting a queen bee causes all bees on the screen to fly to her aid, clearing the screen. When a bee reaches the cat, the game ends and the high score is updated if necessary. Unlock conditions for the five rare cats are also checked when the game ends. This was a passion project for me since my family had many cats in my childhood.

My Contributions (Sole Designer)

• Gameplay - Below are the major features

  • Slinging using 2D Physics

  • Collision response when a bee is hit

  • Finding distance between a bee and the queen to affect movement speed of rushing after the queen

  • Recording high score, tracking unlocked cats, and saving settings with PlayerPrefs

• UI functionality

• Artwork and animations

Duration: July 2021 - January 2022 (November 2021 Release Date)

Game Engine: Unity 2D

Tutorial and Gameplay Showcase

When a player first launches the game, they start with the tutorial, which teaches the player about slinging and the benefit of targeting a queen bee. The text displayed during the tutorial can be skipped through quickly by tapping the screen. After beating the tutorial, the game always launches to the starting screen.

Winter Update Trailer

With the winter update, I created new snowy artwork and snow particle effects. I also created a new settings menu to toggle sound, select day or night as a background, and toggle the winter artwork.

Early Prototype

Finished Product

Playtesting and Improvements

Through playtesting my first prototype of SLiNG - Cat Protector with people from ages 6 to 60, I found that the game was too difficult for most age groups. The bees’ movements were too sporadic, as they all moved in some form of side-to-side motion while going down very slowly, and there could be too many bees on the screen at a time. To fix this, I changed the movement of the bees so that 70% of the time they would fly straight down at a good speed, while the remaining 30% is split between travelling straight down at a faster pace and travelling down while zigzagging from side to side. Playtesters who tried the new iteration of SLiNG - Cat Protector found that the game was more enjoyable, and they wanted to keep trying for a better high score. While implementing these changes, I also updated some of the visual elements of the game, such as improving the positions of the line renderers used to create the strings when the basketball is pulled away from its starting position. This change, along with the other adjustments seen above, helped greatly improve the look of the game.

Privacy Policy: SLiNG - Cat Protector does not collect any data from its users.