Spoor Trails Studio

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Here's the quick overview of our Game Scope Cards. It definitely helped us with finding some small issues we might have had.

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Here is our final Icon for the App Stores! We decided on the classic paw print with our signature pink background.

“Care Pals lets you adopt, care for, and rehabilitate animals while learning about their needs and behaviors. Unlock new habitats, earn rewards, and contribute to real-world animal shelters with every play session. Discover the joy of making a difference—one Paw Coin at a time!”

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Our Marketing Opportunities

Special Marketing Niche: Care Pals targets animal lovers and gamers interested in meaningful and educational entertainment. Its unique focus on emotional connection with animals and real-world impact (donations to shelters) makes it stand out in the casual gaming market.

Attracting the Target Market: Using leverage platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to share engaging short-form content, such as mini-game highlights, emotional animal stories, and updates on shelter donations will be our main focus. However, we would also partner with animal charities and influencers who align with the game’s purpose.

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Elevator Pitch

How we would describe our game to the publisher of EA games if we met them in an elevator.

“Imagine a game where players care for adorable animals, each with unique needs, unlocking habitats and exciting challenges as they progress. It’s more than just fun—it’s meaningful. Players not only learn about animal care and behaviors in a natural, engaging way but also make a real-world impact by supporting animal shelters through in-game achievements and rewards. Our game combines entertainment, education, and purpose, offering a rewarding experience for players while creating tangible change for animals in need. It’s a feel-good game with heart, designed to keep players coming back for more.”

We also tried letting a AI Tool help us with the Elevator Pitch. Here's what we generated:

“Care for adorable animals, meet their unique needs, and unlock new habitats and challenges along the way. Every play session not only brings joy but also makes a real-world difference by supporting animal shelters with every Paw Coin you earn!”

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Market Analysis

At first, we looked up games similar to ours and wrote a short analysis on them:

Wildlife-themed video games like Wildlife Rescue, Pou, Pet World: WildLife America, Zoo Rescue: Match 3 Animals, and Spin a Zoo captivate audiences through engaging gameplay, emotional appeal, and conservation themes. These games focus on animal care and rescue, offering casual mechanics that are accessible to all ages. They combine vibrant visuals, heartwarming storylines, and educational elements about wildlife preservation, fostering both entertainment and awareness.

A key strength is their diverse gameplay. Zoo Rescue blends match-3 puzzles with animal rescue, while Pou offers a simple virtual pet experience. Spin a Zoo emphasizes creativity and zoo-building, while Pet World leans into realistic animal care. This variety allows them to target different audiences, from casual players to conservation enthusiasts.

These games succeed through regular updates, seasonal events, and cross-platform availability. Social features like challenges and progress-sharing enhance engagement, while partnerships with conservation causes add authenticity. Freemium models with in-app purchases or ads ensure monetization while keeping the games accessible.

Their selling points include customization, progression systems, and emotional connection with animals. By staying innovative, relevant, and community-focused, wildlife games continue to thrive, blending entertainment with education in a unique niche of the gaming industry.

The market analysis on our game however shows, how different it is from the games above and why it will succeed:

Why is our game different?

Competitors emphasize care, ecosystems, or genetic variety

Often lack real-world impact or adaptive learning systems

A portion of ad revenue supports animal shelters

We combine fun with learning

Phone widget

Scalable Challenges: Gradually increases complexity through additional animals, habitats, and mini-games

What unique features does our game have?

Real-World Impact: Donations to animal shelters inspire social responsibility

Emotional Connection: Empathy-driven tasks build bonds with animals

Flexible Goals: Players set their pace, focusing on curiosity-driven exploration

Why will our game succeed?

Market Demand: Appeals to a wide demographic of animal lovers and families

Unique Features: Real-world tie-ins and adaptive gameplay enhance replayability - real life support for animal shelters

Low Risk: Combines proven elements (e.g., care mechanics) with fresh ideas, minimizing uncertainty for publishers

Point of Difference: Your game balances fun and education while integrating a real-world impact, emotional engagement, and player-driven flexibility, standing out in the crowded animal-care niche

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Task 2: Details on Learning Outcomes

A few things we thought about today:

What is the feedback and awarding scheme? 

Achievements and Paw Coins: Players earn Paw Coins and achievements by completing tasks and challenges

Real-World Impact: A portion of ad revenue supports animal shelters, providing external motivation

(Custom Feedback: Players receive specific feedback on their care performance, helping refine strategies)

What will players learn from playing your game? 

Knowledge of animal needs: Players learn about animal behaviors, habitats, and proper care techniques

Geography skills (because of the world map - where certain animals are located. They will also learn how their environments geological characteristics and, specific biom dictates their instincts, patterns and way of life.)

Biology skills (animal facts like what they eat and what their footprints look like etc.)

Responsibility: By managing diverse care tasks, players develop problem-solving skills as well as time management

Empathy: Emotional connections foster respect for animals and environmental awareness

How will the game help players learn this?

Detailed animal profiles and care guides

Mini Games (like for example matching the animal to its footprints, etc.)

Incremental Knowledge: facts and tips are presented during the gameplay

What tools or features will support players in learning while they play?

In-Game Encyclopedia: Provides detailed animal profiles and care guides

Progressive Tutorials: Early guidance ensures players understand mechanics and care basics

Feedback System: Tailored tips after tasks help improve performance.

How will you explain the game’s learning goals to players?

Opening Message: Briefly outlines the game’s real-world impact and educational purpose. - informing the players about the support for animal shelters

Character - guides players through the game and gives tips (maybe a zookeeper)

How will the game start simple and gradually become more challenging to help players learn progressively? (progress from simple to complicated)

Level Design: Starts with simple animals and basic needs, progressing to exotic creatures and advanced care tasks

Unlock new regions: With time players can unlock different world regions and thus get access to different kinds of animal species, each with its own unique characteristics

How is the learning adapted to the individual skills of the player, etc.

Difficulty Scaling: Challenges adjust based on player performance (e.g., hint systems for struggling players)

Player-Driven Goals: Allows for exploration at a comfortable pace, fostering self-directed learning

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Persona 3: Alex, 21 yrs old, Biology Student

During a break between lectures, Alex opens the game and learns about animal habitats while progressing in mini-games. He likes the strategy of managing different animals’ needs and even brings up what he’s learned in class discussions.

About: Alex is a 21-year-old university student studying biology. He’s fascinated by animals and ecosystems and enjoys educational games that teach him new facts while keeping things fun. He values learning and discovery but doesn’t want anything too childish.

Motivations: Alex likes that the game has real-world animal facts and finds the mini-games surprisingly challenging. He’s also drawn to the real-world impact of ad donations to animal organizations.

How Alex Uses the Game: Alex plays on his tablet, often between classes or on his commute, finding the game a nice way to relax and unwind. The game’s educational component also appeals to his studies, as he enjoys exploring more advanced animal facts as he progresses.

Goals: Unlock higher levels and animals, learn more about animal behavior

Motivation: Interest in scientific facts, educational elements, supporting organizations

Barriers: Challenges might be too simple, lack of scientific depth in some content

Questions: “How accurate are the animal facts?” “Can I choose more challenging tasks?”

Touchpoint: Plays on his tablet between lectures or on his commute, enjoys longer sessions with educational challenges

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Persona 2: Sarah, 17 years old, Student and Casual Gamer

Sarah opens the game while waiting for her friends, caring for her virtual animals and unlocking a new habitat. Seeing that the game donates to animal shelters motivates her to play regularly, feeling that she’s supporting a cause she cares about while having fun.

About: Sarah is a high school student balancing school, friends, and a part-time job. She plays games to unwind, especially after a long day. She’s interested in animals and environmental issues but doesn’t have time for anything too complex.

Motivations: Sarah wants a game that’s fun and engaging, with challenges to keep her attention. She’s interested in the social impact of the game and loves that playing can contribute to animal welfare.

How Sarah Uses the Game: Sarah plays on her smartphone, often during short breaks at school or in the evening when she’s unwinding. She enjoys progressing to higher levels and likes the idea of a game that’s both relaxing and meaningful.

Goals: Relax, progress in short sessions, face new challenges

Motivation: Unwinding, achieving progress with little time, supporting animal charities

Barriers: Game might take too long to progress, daily logins could feel demanding.Questions: “What’s the quickest way to earn Paw Coins?” “How often do I need to play to keep progressing?”

Touchpoint: Plays on her smartphone during breaks or in the evening, prefers short sessions with quick goals.

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Persona1: Emily, 10yrs old, animal lover

After dinner, Emily sits down to “check in” on her animals, making sure they’re fed and happy. She completes a mini-game to unlock a fox, her favorite animal, and runs to show her mom. She loves that she’s learning something new about animals with each play session.

About: Emily is a 10-year-old who adores animals. She reads animal books, watches animal shows, and often visits the local pet store just to look at animals. Her parents support her interest, but they can’t have a pet at home.

Motivations: Emily loves the idea of "owning" animals in the game and is excited to learn how to care for them. She enjoys games with clear goals and rewards but also wants to play at her own pace.

How Emily Uses the Game: Emily plays after school on a tablet, usually in the living room where her mom can see what she’s doing. She’s excited to “unlock” new animals and uses Paw Coins to add fun items for them. Mini-games are her favorite part, especially as they help her learn and feel more connected to each animal.

Goals: Collect and care for animals, unlock new animals and habitats.

Motivation: Love for animals, daily rewards, learning through fun.

Barriers: Managing multiple animals might be difficult, limited coins, some content may be hard to understand.

Questions: “How do I unlock new animals?” “Why do my animals get sick if I don’t play every day?”

Touchpoint: Plays on a tablet after school, with quick daily interactions and mini-games.

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Target Group

User Group: Ages 10 to 25

Our target audience includes young players (10-25 years old) who have a variety of motivations:

love for animals

enjoyment of games

interest in educational experiences

This range captures different levels of interest and immersion, from young animal lovers to curious students. The game needs to be versatile, allowing for casual play while also supporting deeper learning about animals.

In the next post we will talk more about our personas in detail!

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What Makes a Game a Game? Designing an Animal Care Experience

Creating a game that’s genuinely fun, rather than just educational or a simulation, requires a careful mix of interaction, challenge, and choice. Here’s how our animal care game brings this vision to life.

What Makes This a Game?

Our game isn’t just task-based—it’s interactive, engaging, and personal. Players care for various animals, learning about their needs and behaviors in a way that feels natural and rewarding. With new animals and habitats unlocked over time, players stay engaged and curious, building emotional connections with their virtual pets.

The Challenge and the Fun

Players are tasked with caring for different animals, each presenting unique needs and challenges. Progress unlocks more animals and mini-games that get tougher with each level, providing both discovery and skill-building without overwhelming the player.

Feedback and Rewards: Paw Coins, Achievements, and Purpose

Our game uses rewards that make a difference:

Achievements and Paw Coins: High scores unlock achievements, while in-game currency (Paw Coins) can unlock new areas and animals.

Real-World Impact: The game donates ad revenue to animal shelters, giving players the motivation to make a real-world impact.

Why This Game is Not Homework or a Simulation

The game is designed to be flexible, not prescriptive. Players set their own goals, learn at their own pace, and explore without feeling pressured. Fun, interesting facts appeal to animal lovers, and gameplay is curiosity-driven, so players engage because they want to—not because they have to.

In Summary: Making Animal Care Fun and Meaningful

Our animal care game offers players a personalized, rewarding experience. With interactive challenges, meaningful rewards, and real-world impact, it’s a memorable, feel-good game for animal lovers and curious players alike.

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Here is a moodboard for some design inspiration.

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MindMap from our brainstorming session today.

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Our Roles

In order to keep up the creative workflow, we need to divide our tasks into 4 different 'positions'.

Game producer/manager: As Michelle is an experienced game player who has played a large variety of games, equipping her with a wide range of knowledge. This knowledge can help guide us through the creative process.

Game artist/modeler: Anna is our game artist and modeler. She has a creative mind and can easily create the designs we have in mind.

Game programmer/designer: When structured and logical interfaces are needed, Marie is the one to call. Her practical thinking in combination with her creativity, is essential for our design process.

Game analyst/tester: To ensure our game is free of bugs, glitches or any kind of mistakes, we will all be participating in the game analyzing process alternately.

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Here are some concept sketches for our logo design, so you can better understand the process of developing our logo. (final version can be seen on our profile pic!)

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Treasure Chest Summary:

Games like Papa’s Cupcakeria, Subway Surfers, and Assemble with Care each captivate players with unique mechanics and engaging elements, that's why we chose them for our first game experience reports. Here is a quick summary of our main findings:

Papa’s Cupcakeria is enjoyable for its easy-to-learn gameplay, rewarding progression, and story development, drawing players into the pursuit of "perfection" as they unlock new features and challenges. Using simple mouse controls, the game’s diverse characters and interactive cooking stations make gameplay dynamic and immersive.

In Subway Surfers, the fast-paced, reflex-based swiping mechanics and nostalgic, vibrant graphics create an addictive experience as players dodge obstacles and collect power-ups. This keeps players coming back to test their reflexes and master the challenges of each run.

Assemble with Care, meanwhile, offers a cohesive storyline with an enticing, analog-inspired art style and an engaging voiceover, giving it a soothing and nostalgic feel. Players manipulate 3D objects with seamless movements, and each part of the story feels like turning the pages of a book, making it compelling and relaxing to complete each level.

Together, these games use a mix of visual appeal, intuitive controls, and rewarding progression to maintain players' attention and dedication!

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Our Team's Ground Rules: Creating Together, the Fun Way!

Working as a team means setting a few ground rules to keep things smooth, productive, and, most importantly, enjoyable! Here’s a little peek at the guidelines we’ve agreed on to keep our creative flow going:

Stay on Track with Deadlines: We’re all about meeting our own internal deadlines to keep the project moving forward. A little structure goes a long way!

Keep Our Shared Document Updated: As we each make progress, we update our shared doc so everyone’s always in the loop. This way, we can see our ideas coming together in real time.

Constructive Feedback Only: Feedback is essential, but we’re committed to making it helpful and encouraging. We’re building each other up, not tearing down.

Communication is Key: If something isn’t sitting right with anyone, we’ll talk it out and work together to find a solution. Open and honest communication is our secret ingredient.

Fun Comes First! Above all, we’re here to have a good time creating something amazing together. We know that when we’re having fun, the best ideas come to life!