Design Statement
The theme track starts off almost silent, slowly building into a warm, nostalgic tune
before fading away. It reminded us of that little moment before starting an arcade game.
You know, when you're just about to press start, and have absolutely no idea what kind of
chaos you're getting into. That's pretty much what Small Catastrophe is about.
We wanted to make something that feels like an arcade game: easy to pick up, simple to
understand, but hard to put down. The kind of game where you keep telling yourself,"just
one more try." Time slows down while you aim, giving you a moment to line things up.
Then you let go, and everything goes a little crazy. The ball picks up speed with every
collision, sending blocks ying in a mess of cracks, ricochets and screen shake.

We also wanted to keep things fun rather than frustrating. So there's a squashy little
pixel-art ball, a menu you can smash around for no particular reason, and a scoring
system built around combos and time bonuses. The soundtrack is an original chiptune
track, so we decided to leave out the provided soundtrack. And if the built-in levels aren't
enough, endless (seed codes) and the Level Designer let you create and share your own
little catastrophes.

Game Instructions (launch steps, controls, and gameplay overview)
HOW TO RUN IT
Download the zip from the page and extract it. Open SmallCatastrophe.exe and you're in.

CONTROLS
Click + drag to aim, let go to launch. The further you pull back, the harder the ball goes.
Esc / right-click: cancel your aim
Esc / P: pause
R: restart
Space / Enter: continue

WHAT'S GOING ON
Smash every block before the timer runs out. Time slows down while you aim, but the clock
is still ticking, so don't overthink it.
The faster the ball is going, the harder it hits, and it picks up speed as it bounces around. Use
the indestructible walls to ricochet all over the arena and wipe out as much as you can in
one shot.

STUFF TO TRY
- 10 handmade levels
- Endless Mode: waves keep getting meaner, and every level has a seed code you can use to
replay it or send to a friend
- Level Designer: make your own 17x17 levels in your browser
(spideyspidery.github.io/SmallCatastrophe/editor), then paste your level string into Custom
Levels from the main menu and hit Load
- Chase combos, one-shot bonuses and time bonuses for a higher score

Gameplay walkthrough video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrDnR_vAJRI

Trailer / Other Additional Video Material (Optional)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uettyyF8LeM

Did your project use any AI tools or assets? If yes, please specify.
Nope!