Inspiration

Humans rarely see the direct consequences of throwing trash into the ocean, but marine life experiences those effects every day. Around 11 million metric tons of plastic enter oceans annually, harming millions of marine animals through pollution, habitat destruction, and ingestion of waste.

We wanted to turn those statistics into an emotional and interactive experience by placing players directly into the life of a clownfish struggling to survive in a polluted environment.

What it does

Being Nemo is a third-person survival game where players control a clownfish trying to survive in a polluted ocean ecosystem.

Players must:

Collect litter falling from a boat above
Dispose of trash before it damages the environment
Avoid predators like sharks
Manage health tied directly to ocean pollution

The game uses survival mechanics to raise awareness about the impact of ocean waste on marine life.

How we built it

We built the game in Unity using:

A custom third-person fish controller
Randomized litter spawning mechanics
Health and survival systems
Underwater lighting, wave, and depth effects
Coral reef environmental design
Predator systems (in progress)

We focused heavily on making the underwater world feel realistic and immersive.

Challenges we ran into

Finding high-quality assets that matched our visual style
Making the fish movement and body animations feel natural
Balancing realistic underwater visuals with gameplay clarity
Building multiple gameplay systems within a limited timeframe

Accomplishments

Building the entire game from scratch
Creating an immersive experience with realistic underwater wave and lighting effects
Successfully implementing smooth fish movement controls
Designing an immersive underwater ecosystem
Connecting environmental pollution directly to gameplay mechanics

We are especially proud of how effectively the game communicates the emotional impact of ocean pollution.

What we learned

How to work with Unity and environmental game design
Character movement and underwater simulation techniques
How games can communicate social and environmental issues effectively
More about the real-world impact of ocean pollution and ways individuals can reduce marine waste