The adventure about our hero the stray cat BUBU....Imagine a world without humans! BUBu's World is a 2D platform game with graphics and animated pixel art.
The project combines my story with my cat Bubu, and observation in the neighborhood Dongshankou, one of the most popular districts in Guangzhou, China. The collision of old living areas and modern pop culture brings challenges and opportunities.
Leah Hu (Game and Design), Travis Liu (Sound)
Stray animals have become a growing concern in urban China. As of 2021, there were an estimated 53 million stray cats and 40 million stray dogs nationwide. In cities like Guangzhou, many stray cats roam residential communities and rely on informal care from local residents.Public attitudes toward stray animals remain divided.
A high-profile incident in Chongqing—where a child was attacked by an unleashed Rottweiler—triggered widespread backlash. In response, authorities increased enforcement against free-roaming animals, while public fear and anger led to disturbing acts of retaliation, affecting both strays and pets alike. These events reflect deeper tensions in how society manages and relates to animals in shared urban environments.
The project focuses on Dongshankou, a historic district in Guangzhou where many stray cats are cared for by elderly residents. While the area is praised for its successful urban redevelopment, the rise of the influencer economy and tourism has dramatically reshaped its social and physical environment.
Regional analysis highlights how urban planning, economic shifts, and changing demographics have reduced the living space available for stray animals.
Situation analysis reveals a cycle of feeding, reproduction, and human conflict, reflecting the deeper complexity behind stray cat management in dense city centers.
In July 2023, I collaborated with Zhongmaole, a stray cat protection organization, to host a community event focused on urban stray cat issues. The event featured a lecture, informal discussions with pet owners and animal enthusiasts, and a co-creation silkscreen workshop. All proceeds were directed toward stray cat rescue and conservation efforts. The event also provided valuable opportunities to speak directly with participants and better understand the confusion, challenges, and gaps in public awareness around the stray cat problem.
The project combines level planning, character and enemy design, gameplay development, and spatial presentation. Each step draws from real-world observations and pixel art aesthetics to build an engaging experience that connects digital play with social awareness.
The game is designed to shift players’ attitudes toward stray cats through interactive storytelling and gameplay. It focuses on three key areas:
Daily surroundings: Using familiar neighborhood scenes to ground the experience and encourage local engagement.
Character empowerment: Giving the stray cat independent abilities to challenge human-centered compassion narratives.
Game presentation: Framing the project in a nostalgic, imagined world without humans, using AR and contextual materials to spark wider conversation.
The game is divided into six levels, each inspired by real locations and daily scenes around the Dongshankou neighborhood. The journey begins in familiar urban environment, such as bus stops and street corners, and gradually transitions into imagined spaces like underground sewers, dreamy rooftops, and interior spaces filled with symbolic meaning.
Each level introduces new obstacles, environments, and enemies to reflect different aspects of a stray cat's life, from survival to exploration. The progression is designed to keep the player engaged while reinforcing the narrative of adaptation and resilience.
The game features a pixel-art style character based on my real-life cat Bubu. The design process involved photo referencing, sketching, testing, and final sprite creation to convey personality through minimal animation. Enemies，including rats, flies, and cockroaches, were selected to reflect common urban pests, emphasizing the cat’s role in navigating a human-influenced world.
The gameplay is simple and intuitive: players move using keyboard controls, jump to collect items, and eliminate enemies. A cat-shaped slime is also introduced as a non-threatening tutorial character to ease players into the mechanics.
This section brings together the visual and interactive elements of the game, covering everything from environment art to core mechanics. Each asset and level was designed with both narrative meaning and user experience in mind, blending site-specific inspiration with playful, pixel-based storytelling. The development process involved character and enemy design, gameplay structure, and visual production using Unity and Aseprite.
The game features a pixel-art style character based on my real-life cat Bubu. The design process involved photo referencing, sketching, testing, and final sprite creation to convey personality through minimal animation. Enemies，including rats, flies, and cockroaches, were selected to reflect common urban pests, emphasizing the cat’s role in navigating a human-influenced world.
The gameplay is simple and intuitive: players move using keyboard controls, jump to collect items, and eliminate enemies. A cat-shaped slime is also introduced as a non-threatening tutorial character to ease players into the mechanics.
From immersive gameplay to interactive installations, Bubu’s World invites visitors into a whimsical universe. Combining video game mechanics, AR elements, and physical installation, the project was exhibited at ChoCho Art Space from November to December 2023.
