Making · Engineering · 2026 · Working prototype

A game built for one very particular audience

UPPAH

A small personal game about simple controls, clear feedback, and wanting to try again.

Pixel-art runner game: a toddler in a white shirt runs right along a zoo path past a lion, giraffe and elephant enclosure, a basketball and a bunny ahead of him, a dark-haired woman in a red plaid shirt chasing from the left; a distance bar runs under the scene — Fig. 1 — A run in progress, and the start screen that teaches the two controls. Captured from the browser build, 27 October 2026. Own screenshots.

Start screen: the toddler waving above the story line 'Gigi just turned her back for one second... and now Ansel is on the move', with How to Play: up arrow to jump, down arrow to duck — Fig. 1 — A run in progress, and the start screen that teaches the two controls. Captured from the browser build, 27 October 2026. Own screenshots.

Role: Designer, developer
Years: 2026
Project status: Working prototype
Categories: Making · Engineering
Sources: I08

04Note

I built UPPAH for a very particular audience. The design question was small: how do you make a game understandable without instructions, with feedback that makes someone want another turn?

It remains a personal prototype. The whole interface is two zones: hold the left half to duck, tap the right half to jump. Collecting things is rewarding, and a run ends when Gigi catches up.

Game-over screen: the woman crouching beside the toddler, the words Gigi Caught Ansel!, the run's collected items and a yellow Play Again button — Fig. 2 — The end of a run, and the one button that starts the next. Captured from the browser build, 27 October 2026. Own screenshot.

References & documentation

1. I08
`portfolio_master_inventory_2026-10-21_revised.md` — Working inventory, earlier chat reconstruction and unverified legacy projectsfirst-party
Editorial research, no independent verification