💎 Pitch
Doc! We need you! Our little monster Paco needs your help. As an expert, you should be able to fix him, right?
You just have to put your head between his teeth and your arms in his guts to keep Paco alive. Just don't lose your head in the process!
🌟 Introduction
The player takes on the role of a monster vet, who has to put their head in Paco's mouth (the monster) and their hands into holes in his chest to reach his organs and keep him alive for 3 minutes.
We had a lot of fun building different inputs to represent the organs, like an enema bulb to squeeze in rhythm for the heartbeat, balloons filled with flour for the lungs, and switches covered in cotton wool for the brain.
This project was very particular because it was a physical game, and also part of the Alternative Controller category..
👾 Gameplay
Basically, the game is made up of 3 mini-games. On the screen, you see 3 boxes on the left side and some gauges on the right.
Each gauge represents one organ. When an organ's mini-game starts, its gauge begins to decrease until the game is completed, which resets the gauge to full.
If two gauges drop to zero, the game is lost. You have to keep Paco alive for 2 minutes, with at least 2 organs still functioning.
Gameplay Video
📃 What I've realized on the project
The first task, and probably the most important one, was to come up with a new and original concept for an alternative controller game.
Scotty Fermin and I were the first to work on it, since the first week was dedicated to finding an idea before forming a full team.
We had two main ideas. One was a toilet box where the player would interact with the toilet brush, the flush, and the screen would be inside the toilet bowl.
The second idea was Paco. A big monster with holes in his body, where the player would put their hands inside and interact with his organs to do something (we hadn’t decided yet that it would be about keeping him alive as a vet).
We decided to push the monster idea and made a PowerPoint presentation. The goal was to make the concept as attractive as possible.
Why? Because during the first week it was just Scotty and me (2 GDs). Then over the weekend, we would send our presentation and the other students would choose the concept they liked most from all the proposals and join the teams. I thought it was a great way to form teams.
Main page of the powerpoint presentation
Link to the powerpoint presentation (Mostly in French)
Imagining and Schematizing All 3 Mini-Games
The heart - The heart is basically a pump that the player presses with their hand inside the hole. On the screen, a line appears with a heartbeat rhythm.
You have to press the heart pump firmly each time the heartbeat reaches the line to make one beat.
You need to complete as many beats in a row as shown on the example line. Each time you succeed, one symbol turns green. If you fail, everything resets.
The lungs - This part was the hardest of the three to build. We wanted a feeling like pulling cow udders, kind of like touching thin lungs (times three, he's a monster after all).
We made them using balloons filled with flour, so they’re a bit firm but still soft.
The mini-game itself is simple. You have to pull the lungs to fill up Paco’s oxygen gauge (3 gauges, one for each lung). Once they’re all filled, the mini-game is complete.
The brain - The brain was probably the quickest one to make. There are 5 little neurons (on/off switches) inside the brain hole in Paco’s chest.
On the game screen, we show a code (for example: off, on, on, off, off) and the current state of the neurons.
The player has to find them and activate them one by one to match the code and complete the mini-game.
📌 Lessons Learned
During the project, I learned the importance of organization, especially when ordering fur, electronic inputs, and materials.
Also, playtesting each mechanic and feature as early as possible is essential. It’s often harder for a dev to go back and fix something days later than to test it live and make changes right after feedback.
To conclude, since we got selected and invited to GDC Edition 2025, we learned how important visuals are, and how much effort goes into marketing and making the project attractive. We also learned how to create the best possible player experience.
âš¡ Quick infos
Project made in 2 weeks using Unity and a physically handmade monster.
The team :
- Programmers : Victor Lacombe, Santino Romero, Ema Ouardi
- Designers : Scotty Fermin & Me
- Artists : Chaher Himaya & Marion Puigcerver
- Producer : Lionel Bourgeois
The game isn’t playable from home since Paco is required for it to work, but there are gameplay videos above on the page.
