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Sofia Rautiainen
Game Design Graduate & Environment Artist
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Seal Splash | Designing an Arcade Game

Seal Splash won the contest to become the official tournament game of Finnish Game Week (Peliviikko) in 2025! They were looking for a retro-inspired browser game that was easy to learn but hard to master, with a scoring system suitable for competitive play, and a maximum of three minutes per playthrough.

I came up with the idea for Seal Splash inspired by the fishing minigame in the PlayStation 2 classic Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. We created it in two weeks: my teammate did the programming, while I made the art and sounds.

Seal Splash can be played at https://sofffe.itch.io/sealsplash or https://hyljepeli.fi

Intuitive gameplay that's EASY TO LEARN: move side to side to dodge rocks and catch fish, and jump over nets. But the seal retains some momentum ("stickiness") to create a learning curve for MASTERING the movement.

Intuitive gameplay that's EASY TO LEARN: move side to side to dodge rocks and catch fish, and jump over nets. But the seal retains some momentum ("stickiness") to create a learning curve for MASTERING the movement.

COMPETITIVE PLAY: The score is based on fish caught - big fish giving more points than small ones. To further reward MASTERY, an increasing speed multiplier makes the game harder while multiplying points earned. This also creates the 3-MINUTE TIME LIMIT.

COMPETITIVE PLAY: The score is based on fish caught - big fish giving more points than small ones. To further reward MASTERY, an increasing speed multiplier makes the game harder while multiplying points earned. This also creates the 3-MINUTE TIME LIMIT.

To create the RETRO feel, I referenced the original Game Boy consoles, resulting in pixel art limited to a palette of four colors. The sound design was also inspired by old-school 8-bit sounds, and the game interface is reminiscent of a handheld console.

To create the RETRO feel, I referenced the original Game Boy consoles, resulting in pixel art limited to a palette of four colors. The sound design was also inspired by old-school 8-bit sounds, and the game interface is reminiscent of a handheld console.

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