Potter Pop

Summary

Potter Pop is a Harry Potter-themed twist on the popular Suika Game. Players click to drop Potter character heads into the container, aiming to merge two identical heads into a new character and score points with each successful collision. The game ends when a head crosses the line at the top.

I created Potter Pop as a Christmas gift for my sister, Clarity, in December 2024. We both grew up reading the Harry Potter books and love the characters, so I thought she would enjoy a chill, hand-drawn game with magical touches.

Process

I illustrated all the artwork for this game in Figma, including eleven Potter heads and decorative elements. Drawing in Figma allowed me to sketch freehand and then refine the shapes by editing the vertices, which was both creative and precise. I used various references, including Harry Potter cartoons, to inspire my designs.

The UI design was particularly fun to develop. The score is displayed on a parchment scroll inspired by the Marauder's Map, the next character appears in a crystal ball as though predicting the future, and the play-again button is represented by a Time-Turner, symbolizing going back in time to restart the game. These design choices added clever, nerdy elements that enhanced the magical theme.

Implementing the physics of the game in Unity presented some challenges. I used colliders and triggers for the character interactions. When two heads collided, a new character would spawn—but I had to ensure it happened only once per collision. To solve this, I assigned each head a unique ID. During a collision, only the head with the greater ID triggered the spawn event.

I also encountered a significant bug where, on rare occasions, three heads would collide simultaneously, triggering a cascade of endless head spawns that froze the game. Amusingly, this reminded me of the multiplying objects inside the Lestrange vault in Gringotts when Harry, Ron, and Hermione were retrieving Hufflepuff's cup. To resolve this, I implemented a collision log where each head ID could only be involved in one collision at a time, preventing the "multiplication curse."

To polish the game, I added sound effects, a high score tracker, particle effects for collisions, and fade-in animations for both the start and game-over screens. PlayerPrefs handles the high score and sound preferences, creating a personalized experience. I also randomized the game-over text with phrases like "Merlin's beard!", "Galloping gargoyles!", and "Bloody hell!" as a fun nod to iconic expressions from the Harry Potter series.

Reflections

I'm proud of the whimsical, hand-drawn aesthetic of Potter Pop. The gameplay feels relaxing yet challenging, with a difficulty level that makes reaching the final character, Hagrid, rare and rewarding. This project taught me a lot about creating 2D art assets, exporting to WebGL, and troubleshooting physics bugs—especially those that are difficult to replicate consistently.

My sister loved the game, and I even got my mom hooked on it—sorry, Mom! In the future, I'd love to adapt Potter Pop into a smartphone app to share the game with a wider audience.