Product overview
I’ve been wanting to try building games with AI, and a friend came to me with an idea that was basically Agar.io plus rock-paper-scissors. It felt like a fun place to start.
His inspiration came from Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple. There’s a scene where two martial arts masters play rock-paper-scissors at an absurd speed, watching each other and changing their hands at the last possible moment. For some reason, that idea never left his brain.
I wanted to see how that could work in a battle royale. I leaned into my old Pokémon days and made fire, grass, and water the choices. You can switch between them as you play, so beating someone takes a bit of skill in reading what they’re doing and deciding when to change.
It needs a critical mass of players to keep public matches going full time, so there’s single-player for now and private rooms where you can play with friends. I highly recommend trying it with friends. That’s where it really becomes fun.
Making the choices easy to pick up
Fire beats grass, grass beats water, and water beats fire. That’s the whole triangle. I liked using elements because the relationship feels familiar, especially if you grew up playing Pokémon. Running into someone with the same element just bounces you apart.
Everyone stays the same size and moves at the same speed. The advantage comes from your position, your timing, and which element you’re using. Switching has a short cooldown, so you have to commit to the choice for a moment before changing again.
Giving you a way to jump in
I wanted people to be able to try it without waiting for a full lobby. Solo casual puts you in with eleven bots, and solo ranked gives you a personal rating to work on. You can get a feel for the game before inviting anyone else.
Private rooms let you play with friends, with bots available to fill out the match. It gives us a way to enjoy the multiplayer side while the game is still finding its players.
Keeping the chase moving
Once you’re in, you’re trying to catch the elements you can beat while staying away from the ones that beat you. Someone can switch just before you reach them, so a chase can turn around pretty quickly. Rush gives you a burst of movement, and shield gives you a moment to protect yourself.
The ring keeps shrinking until there’s one ball left. As the space gets smaller, you have less room to avoid each other and more reason to make a move. That’s where the original rock-paper-scissors idea starts to show up: watching someone, changing at the right time, and hoping they don’t change first.
A solo casual match against bots. Switch elements, rush, and shield while the ring closes in.