Apocalypse Cats: Teamwork Against Chaos
A cooperative card game exploring modern stressors through metaphor and collaboration
Game Design
Systems Thinking
Card Game
PROJECT BREAKDOWN
Challenge
Design a cooperative card game that uses humor, metaphor, and teamwork to explore emotional and psychological challenges of modern life.
Goal
Build a system that turns abstract stressors (like consumerism, burnout, and social media overload) into playable enemies, while empowering players to overcome them together.
Tools
Adobe Creative Suite, Tabletop Simulator, Screentop
Roles
Game Design, Narrative Design, Systems Design, Art Direction, Prototyping, Playtesting
Details
Team: Johnny, Roberto, Tommy
Timeline: 2 years
Research
We began with a design mission and explored how internal coping mechanisms could be expressed through character concepts, card mechanics, and metaphor. After ten iterations and regular playtesting, we refined emotional themes through gameplay, visual language, and collaboration.
Outcome
Apocalypse Cats is a cooperative card game where players act as cats defending homes from surreal pests fueled by apocalyptic forces. Each cat reflects a coping strategy, while enemies represent distorted stress responses. Players rely on instinct-based mechanics and teamwork to battle, and ultimately liberate, the manipulated foes.
DESIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
Gameplay Mechanics Design
Crafted a cooperative combat system built around token accumulation and instinct-based actions, encouraging strategic collaboration against bosses and their minions.
Worldbuilding and Narrative
Shaped a thematic universe where cats protect homes from surreal apocalyptic threats, blending emotional nuance and humor into narrative and mechanics.
Visual Identity and Marketing
Created the logo, branding, pitch materials, and digital assets used to present the game at events and online. Established a visual style that fuses comic-book energy with metaphorical storytelling.
Prototyping
Prototyped the game in Tabletop Simulator and Screentop, conducting multiple remote playtests to refine card balance, cooperative dynamics, and enemy behaviors.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Art Direction
Directed the visual tone using mood boards, character profiles, and early card concepts. Worked closely with an illustrator through iterative feedback to align the art with core mechanics and enhance emotional resonance.
