Background
Where it Began
I love doodling ducks in the margins of my papers - they're gloriously simplistic and silly and so expressive. Of course, that means I had to make a duck game for my final project in my AR Worldbuilding class.
Designing for AR spaces gives us a unique set of affordances and ways to interact within the game world and real world.
Brainstorming
Player Goals
All of us were passionate about educational games and creating something that would appeal to a younger demographic. We looked towards games and pastimes we enjoyed as children for inspiration, and found an interesting intersection - there was a niche for an educational pet simulator.
Adapting a pet simulator to AR was a challenging but rewarding task. We had so many different ways to better connect players to their virtual friend by using overlays, camera interactions, and even multiplayer elements.
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our initial brainstorming for features and affordances
Final Prototype
Gameplay Video
Previous class projects were more like "mockups" or proof of concepts, but our goal for this project was to get it as playable as possible within our timeframe. We stuck to the core gameplay loop of many virtual pet simulation games - take care of your pet, collect rewards, and spend them on your duck. Unity's ARFoundation gave us the opportunity to implement our design ideas into code, including light estimation and local multiplayer!
Final Prototype
Screens
 art showing the core loop of the game - raising your own duck through walking, visiting nearby friends' ponds, and feeding them treats. I went for a whimsical style to bring out the goofy, lighthearted nature of this game! |  treat minigame - to increase their duck's happiness, players can choose healthy treats to feed them (not bread!) |  local multiplayer is feasible! Our goal was to make this a social game, where you and your friends' ducks can chillax together |
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Afterword
Takeaways
This was the perfect ending for a fun class that encouraged experimentation and pushing the boundaries of games. We ran into so many design quirks and problems to think about in AR, such as how to balance player safety and immersion. Designing for a younger player base was interesting as well to understand what kids wanted out of education games.