They're baaack!
This Halloween, we’re picking up right where our 2016 Magic Cat Academy Doodle left off with a subaquatic shriek-quel! Dive in with Momo the cat to help new friends and reach new depths in her adventure against the Big Boss ghost and its school of ghouls...underwater.
Feline lucky? Swim and swipe to PURR-tect the ocean and its creatures before it’s too late!
The Levels : A deep dive
Level 1 — Sunlight Zone | Aquatic foe: Immortal Jellyfish
Fun Fact: When nearing death, the Immortal Jellyfish can revert back to the polyp stage & start its life cycle all over again—and can do so an unlimited amount of times!
Level 2 — Twilight Zone | Aquatic foe: Boops Boops
Fun Fact: "Boops" derives from the Greek "boōps," meaning “cow eye.” In most languages, the fish's name refers to its large, buggy eyes.
Level 3 — Midnight Zone | Aquatic foe: Vampire Squid
Fun Fact: The Vampire squid has no teeth & doesn't hunt prey! It lives off small, organic material that falls to the ocean bottom known as "marine snow."
Level 4 — The Abyss | Aquatic foe: Anglerfish
Fun Fact: Talk about a fish gone fishin'. Instead of hunting, the Anglerfish uses its esca (or modified fin ray) to lure prey. The esca can illuminate thanks to bacteria!
Early concepts & drafts of the Doodle below
Early swimming & spells animation explorations
Early concepts for Level 1 [Sunlight Zone] & Level 2 [Twilight Zone] : the Immortal Jellyfish & Boops Boops
Early concepts for Level 3 [Midnight Zone] & the Vampire Squid
Early concepts for Level 4 [The Abyss] & the Anglerfish
Early concepts for Level 5 [The Trenches] & the Big Boss showdown!
Early Google Homepage image concept
Behind the scenes with Momo & Sugar
User testing pt. 1
User testing pt. 2 (ghosts can be SO transparent)
User testing pt. 3 (swiping ghosts proves effective)
Momo & Sugar on break from game development (sometimes ghosts can't take a hint)
A restless Momo & sugar the night before launch
Approx. 1 minute after launch — time for a cat nap
Want more adventures with a black cat, ghost and more this Halloween? Now, you can bring your favorite Halloween characters and pet trick-o-treaters into your space using augmented reality. Search for Halloween, Jack-o-lantern, human skeleton, cat, dog, or German Shepherd on your mobile phone.
Magic Cat Academy 2 Team
ART
Olivia When
Juliana Chen
Alyssa Winans
ENGINEERING & UX DESIGN
Stephanie Gu
Conner Lane
Brian Murray
Collin Irwin
UX | Anthony Irwin
PRODUCTION
Producer | Colin Duffy
Music/Sound | Silas Hite, Jacob Howcroft
Marketing | Perla Campos
Eng team lead | Tom Tabanao
Doodle Team Leads | Jessica Yu, Brian Kaas
EXTERNAL PAWTNERS
Momo (black cat)
Sugar (white cat)
Ripley (black cat)