About

Sunfish was developed over the course of one month as a part of a rapid prototyping class. The player assumes the role of a humble fisher trying to maintain the health of his little lake, despite the harsh weather that dries up the water. This casual clicker game was also published to itch.io

itch.io

The player casting their rod, and an informational panel about the fish they last caught

The in-game item shop, where the player can upgrade their fishing skills and the health of their lake

My Experience with Making Sunfish

The logo for the Sunfish dev team, named 7:05pm

Because of the nature of the class this project was developed for, my small team of four only had about three weeks to build this game from the ground up. From conceptualization, programming, and game balancing, everything was done on a strict schedule.

For this project, I worked primarily as a producer, but I helped with the game design as well. Managing a team on such a tight schedule was definitely a unique challenge, and one that I had no experience with before taking this class.

Despite the short deadline, we were able to make what I think is a high-quality product considering the restrictions. There are no plans to expand upon this project, but as it stands it works well as a simple, self-contained casual clicker.

Final Thoughts

Making Sunfish was a lot of fun, and an important experience for me. Working with no time to spare forced me to be quick with my decisions. As well, I learned how to better prioritize what tasks need to be done, as we had very little time to waste on extra features. This project was an exercise in quick thinking and scope management, and one that I really enjoyed!