Fledgling
Bouncy Baby Bird Landing
The Concept
Guide your adorable fledgling from the nest to the forest floor by tilting your phone. The key mechanic: no fail state — miss a landing and you just bounce!
Eat worms and berries to grow "CHONK" (bigger and bouncier). The comedy of tiny wings on an increasingly round body is inherent. Max effort = minimal result.
"The comedy of being too chonky IS the gameplay."
The CHONK Growth System
Collecting food grows your bird from 1.0x to 1.8x scale. But there's a catch:
- +Bigger bird = higher bounce height
- -Bigger bird = faster fall speed
- =Tiny wings on round body = inherently funny
Technical Highlights
Tilt Controls
CoreMotion accelerometer/gyroscope maps phone tilt to bird horizontal velocity. Calibration system with touch fallback for accessibility.
100% Procedural Graphics
No sprite assets. Bird, branches, backgrounds, particles — all generated programmatically. Zero image files in the bundle.
Seeded Level Generation
Xorshift64 algorithm creates infinite replayable content. Daily Challenge mode uses date as seed — same level for everyone.
6-Layer Parallax
Vertical scrolling with layers at 0.1x to 1.3x speed multipliers. Creates depth as the bird descends through the forest.
Design Philosophy
Baby Schema
Head 1.2x larger than body, large eyes placed low, soft round shapes. Biologically wired to trigger "cute" response.
12 Principles of Animation
Squash/stretch on bounce, anticipation before jump, follow-through on landing, exaggerated expressions. Disney-quality feel from code.
No Punishment Philosophy
Bouncing is fun, not failure. You can't lose — you can only bounce until you eventually land. Aligns with the portfolio's "zen" approach.
Environment System
The forest changes based on time and conditions:
Portfolio Context
Each game tests a different mobile platform capability:
| Game | Platform Capability |
|---|---|
| Shade Shift | Colour perception, HSB theory |
| Minesweeper Zen | Procedural puzzle generation |
| Signal Zen | Audio system, programmatic synthesis |
| Fledgling | Gyroscope, physics, procedural graphics |
Tech Stack
Coming Soon
Fledgling is currently in development. Follow the journey as this bouncy baby bird learns to land!