Squishy Octopus

Frame rate read from an on-screen counter on the target device; drops traced with the Unity Profiler.

Context

A puzzle game where you move an octopus by dragging and stretching its limbs. Reach the exit: dodge what can be dodged, like spikes, and solve what cannot — blow up the wall of crates standing in front of the finish.

A rope simulation had to become a playable character on a 1 GB tablet

Obi Rope

The octopus moves by stretching and dragging its limbs, which meant a rope simulation had to become a playable character on a one-gigabyte tablet.

It started by costing frames. Then the feel had to land between two failures: limbs that wobble like jelly and limbs that feel rigid.

Then correctness: a limb must not pass through a wall.

And finally a rule of the game itself — a limb tears when stretched too far. That one was not exposed by the asset, so I wrote my own stretch analysis on top of its data.

A separate question was the cosmetic parts of the body, which had to deform under movement like hair. Spending an expensive rope simulation on geometry that does not affect play was the wrong trade, so those went to a cheaper solution.

Worth calling out

I built this one end to end — gameplay, menus, progression, shop, skins, tutorial, ads and store builds. These are the parts worth naming.

The character

• Limb stretching built on Obi Rope, tuned between wobbly and rigid.
• Stretch analysis written on top of the asset data, so limbs tear by the rules of the game.
• Cosmetic body parts deforming on bones, without paying for a second rope simulation.

The level editor

• A level tool where the game designer builds from cubes on a tilemap and bakes the result into a single mesh with one button.
• A collider rebuild pass that minimises collider count without losing coverage.

More from the game

Project facts

Year

2025

Role

Unity Developer

Team

Three-person pod — game designer, artist, me

Scope

Solo developer, concept to release

Studio

Vira Games

Engine

Unity, C#

Platform

Android · Google Play and Amazon Appstore

Target device

Amazon Fire 7 · 1 GB RAM

Measured

Release build on the target tablet, on-screen counter

Limbs

Four playable limbs, plus a couple of cosmetic ones

Level bake

One pass — tilemap to a single mesh, colliders rebuilt in the same run

Where to see it

Amazon Appstore ↗ · listed as Squishy Octopus

Tools & techniques