Title Wispy Whiskers Short Description Wispy Whiskers is a short 2D game where the player gradually collects hair products in order to grow a long, luscious beard. The player then uses the beard to unlock new environments and tame strange creatures. Game type/genre A single player 2D sidescroller with limited overhead-style movement -Adventure/RPG- Players explore a world, gradually improving their character s abilities -Action- Players must use reflexes and timing to defeat or tame animals. Scenario The setting of the game is an island on which Archibald Perkins has crash landed his hot air balloon. Game system Player Character: This is a single player game. Players play as Archibald Perkins, a bald, clean-shaven explorer who is stranded on an island. Archibald gradually acquires greater and greater amounts of hair as he acquires hair tonic and hair serum. Hair spray and hair dye alter the superficial qualities of Archibald s hair. Archibald uses his different hair elements as tools that amplify his physical abilities. Movement: Archibald runs around the environment in two dimensions: up/down and left/right. Archibald s scale is directly proportional to his vertical position in his environment. As he moves
towards the top of the screen, he shrinks slightly, and as he moves towards the bottom of the screen he grows slightly. This creates the illusion of depth in an otherwise strictly sidescrolling game. Archibald can move through the middle two quarters of the screen without the background scrolling, but beyond that and he will push the background, causing it to scroll, keeping him forever within this middle portion of the screen. The background does not scroll vertically, only horizontally. Archibald s vertical movement has a bottom bound of just above the bottom of the screen, and a vertical bound of just below the horizon line. The gray box shows the area in which Archibald may move. The exception to this occurs at the bridge points between different environments that are located to the north or south of one another. At these points along the linear environment map, Archibald s area of movement would look like this: The red arrows lead to parallel horizontal environments. Archibald may not move through static objects in the environment, and must run around them. Hair Acquisition and Growth: When Archibald acquires a hair product, the screen switches to the Growth Selector screen, seen here:
The player scrolls through the patches for potential hair growth. These consist of: Head Hair, Mustache, Beard, and Sideburns. The currently selected patch is highlighted in yellow. If Archibald had acquired Hair Serum, then whichever patch is chosen will grow one unit length of hair- Hair Tonic grows two units. This growth is shown by an animation in the Growth Selector screen. If Archibald had acquired Hair Dye, then whichever patch is chosen will change to that dye color. If Archibald had acquired Hair Spray, then whichever patch is chosen will change its style. If a razor was accidentally acquired or used purposefully to customize Archibald s hairdo, the Growth Selector screen will pop up, and the player must choose a patch to shave. some hair variations The screen then switches back to the main environment screen. Hair Abilities: Each of Archibald s four different hair patches possess a special power, which is not explicitly stated by the game, and must be discovered by the player. When a certain hair type has grown to a length of 3 units, it acquires its first special power. When a hair type has grown 6 unit lengths, it acquires its second special power. The powers are listed below:
Power 1 Power 2 Head hair Fighting slap Rock climb Mustache Tickle Swim Beard Fighting punch Bridge Sideburns Shield Tree climb The first power-ups are used for interaction with animals. The second power-ups are used to gain access to new environments and to move objects. The hair itself actually performs these actions because Archibald is just too small and weak. Fighting slap- an attack move that stuns an animal, making it freeze for a few seconds Tickle- a pseudo-attack move that tames an animal Fighting punch- an attack move that hurts an animal. After being punched a random number of times (1-4) an animal will be knocked out and may release a hair product Shield- a defense move that protects Archibald from an animal s attack Rock Climb- allows Archibald to access the Mountain environment Swim- allows Archibald to access the Ocean environment Bridge- allows Archibald to access the Desert environment and Beach environments Tree climb- allows Archibald to access the Forest environment Moving objects Any level one hair patch may be used to pull up grass and small stones. Any level two hair patch may be used to pick up and carry objects. Non-Player Characters: Animals There are three different types of animals in each environment. Plains- Bison, Prairie Dog, Fox Forest- Bear, Elk, Skunk Beach- Crab, Stork, Walrus Desert- Camel, Tortoise, Snake Mountain- Snow leopard, Goat, Bat Each animal has a specific attack (for example the bear will swipe with its claws) that can remove up to 3 hair length units from Archibald. Generally the strength of an animal s attack is proportional to its size. The animals a specific environment have a 3 strength, 2 strength, and 1 strength attack between them. Archibald may defend against animal attacks with a Shield, but it only succeeds 75% of the time against 1 and 2 strength animals, and 50% of the time against 3 strength animals. If an animal is stunned by a Fighting Slap, it cannot attack for 4 seconds and is vulnerable to attack. If an animal is hit by a Fighting Punch, it is stunned for 1.5 seconds. A random number, between 1 and 4, of Fighting Punches will knock out an animal. The animal will then respawn after a few minutes. If an animal is successfully tickled, it will become tame and follow Archibald around for a minute, before moving to the crash site of the hot air balloon.
Different animals require different attack/tickle sequences to be tamed, which are never stated by the game and must be discovered by the player. For example a prairie dog, because it is weak, can simply be tickled to be tamed, but a bear must be hit by at least two fighting punches, stunned, and then tickled to be tamed. Non-Character Objects: Carryable objects- These include bushes, some medium sized stones, and other static objects in the environments. Often, hair products will be hidden under these objects, but so may be small animals which can surprise attack Archibald if he s holding a carryable object. If Archibald stands next to a carryable objects and uses his level two hair power, that hair patch will pick up the object and hold onto it. The player may then drop the object anywhere by using the level two hair power again. If they wish, players may build up walls out of carryable objects through which land based animals may not pass. Grass/small stones- grass and small stones may be pulled out the ground by any level one hair patch. Hair products may be buried under grass, so pulling it up may pull up some products as well. Archibald simply stands next to a tuft of grass and uses any hair power to pull it up. Hair Products- Hair products are found hidden behind large objects in the environments, beneath carryable objects, and buried under grass or small stones. Also, hair products can sometimes be acquired from an unconscious animal. There are four types of hair products: two for hair growth and two for pure aesthetic customization of Archibald. Hair Tonic- stored in a moonshine bottle, this tonic results in two units of hair growth. Hair Serum- stored in a flask, this serum results in one unit of hair growth. Hair Spray- found in aerosol cans, hair spray is used to customize Archibald s hairstyle. Hair spray will cause a hair patch to cycle between straight, wavy, curly, frizzy, and an up-do. Hair Dye- found in small squirt bottles, hair bye changes Archibald s hair color. Hair dye causes a hair patch to cycle between brown, blonde, black, red, and white. Razors- Razors may be found in the same places as hair products and if collected, will fully remove a hair patch from Archibald as chosen through the Growth Selection Screen. These are either accidentally acquired, or used purposefully to customize Archibald s hairdo. User Controls This game is played on a computer using a keyboard. The arrows key move Archibald N/S/E/W, and combinations of the arrow keys move him diagonally. A and Q activate Head Hair powers 1 and 2 respectively, S and W activate Mustache powers 1 and 2, D and E activate Beard powers 1 and 2, and F and R activate Sideburns powers 1 and 2. Signs within the plains environment will inform players of these controls. World Map Archibald starts out in the crash site in the Plains. From there the player may acquire the tree climbing ability to enter the forest to the north, or scroll either east or west, and if he has the Bridge ability, enter the Desert or Beach respectively. A north to south or south to north environment jump results in a screen that cuts to the new screen with Archibald entering from either the north or south. An east or west environment jump is depicted by a seamless scroll over to the new environment.
Narrative Structure This game has a very loose narrative structure. The back story is implied. After the title screen, Archibald wakes up next to a wrecked hot air balloon in the Plains environment. It is implied that he has crash landed in a strange new place and must survive. From here the player really creates his/her own emergent narrative and sets personal goals, choosing to fight or tame animals, explore the environments, or customize Archibald s hair. But eventually, if the player happens to tame all 18 animals and returns to the hot air balloon crash site, the animals will assemble together into a rocket ship shape and carry Archibald away in a sort of space Ark, assumedly back to his home. This can be considered the one true end of the game, but the player is never told to attempt to tame all of the animals. This hopefully will happen because it is a good challenge. Title Screen The title screen is rather simple with the title Wispy Whiskers in a large, whiskery font, next to the silhouette of Archibald Perkins piloting a hot air balloon. Any button press will begin the game. Audio Stylized animal calls informing the player of an approaching beast Hair action sounds- such as whipping and wind noises Hair growth sounds- a stretching, springing sound