Catbox

Catbox is an experimental virtual pet designed as part of my final Masters project at the London College of Communication. The game features Catbox, who is a square cat, and tasks players with taking care of him. Catbox can have a range of complex personalities, and his actions change over time depending on his personality, his mood, and his interactions with the player.

The current build of Catbox is a proof-of-concept prototype, and as such is missing some features and a level of polish that I would like to include in a potential future 'finished' version.

The software is designed for mobile deployment, so the desktop implementation here is a temporary solution designed for testing. Most of the game can be played with the mouse as if it were a touchscreen input, with the Z and X keys used to zoom in and out in place of pinch gestures.

In any case, I hope you enjoy playing with Catbox, and make sure to take good care of him!

If you are interested in reading about the research and development of Catbox, you can check out the following links:

• Project overview
• Development diaries
• Case study research

If you want to read the accompanying academic thesis produced as part of this project, you can find that here.

Design and development by Tom Battey.

Music and sound design by Edward A. Guy.