The Sea and Me

The Sea and Me is a 2D side scroller game that focuses on one of the United Nations sustainable development goals - life below water. We made this game to show people the issues of plastic pollution underwater and its harm on sea life. We made the decision of developing this game in the 2D side scroller format, as we have talented teams of both artists and programmers, and using 2D assets allowed our art team to create simple, yet detailed pictures that are full of colour (for now). Our art team have managed to create a beautiful environment full of colour and vibrancy, showing that our environment is magnificent and we should protect it. Instead, we’re ruining it with pollution (the reason for the plastic assets in the water). Another reason we decided to make it into a 2D side scroller is because side scrollers have a culturally important, iconic heritage; the classic gameplay mechanics where you must avoid the enemy alien invaders, in our case the invaders are the overflow of society’s consumerist excesses.

How do you play the game? You’re playing as a group of fish and you’re swimming in your habitat, whilst doing so you encounter old, dangerous plastic and rubbish that you must manoeuvre by in order to survive. However, more and more junk appears as you progress. Towards the surface there is algae, an asset made for the player to consume in order to survive longer and the more rubbish there is in the sea, the less plankton and algae there is available, making it harder for you to survive. The objective of the game is to survive as long as possible, in the top left corner you will see your progress bar and the amount of points you’ve stacked up. While you’re hanging on to your dear life you will notice background assets like power plants and sewage pipes that are contributing to the pollution, with the colour of the coral slowly fading.