Polymer Picker

Polymer Picker (2023)

Your local coastline has become polluted with discarded plastic, which is harming the aquatic wildlife. Dive in, and collect the rubbish, before the fish consume it and die.

Each level contains 8 items to collect. You then proceed to the next level. The fish are initially harmless, but later levels require you to avoid the fish if you can, or they may injure you. Then of course, there's the sharks to contend with.

As you progress, you have the ability to swim faster. This will consume more oxygen, however. When your airtank reaches about 50%, a spare tank will appear underneath your boat. Grab it to replenish your air.

Points are earned for each item of plastic collected. At the end of a level, a bonus is awarded for each fish that is left, in addition to any remaining air in your tank.

If you run out of air, or all the fish die, then it's game over.

The game requires a keyboard to play, but the keys themselves are redefinable.

My experience remastering Androidz in 2021, gave me a big enough boost of confidence in retro-coding. Starting in the Autumn of 2021, I started exploring the idea of a game involving the collection of plastic litter in the ocean. This came about due to increased awareness of projects such as the Great Ocean Cleanup. The end result was Polymer Picker, which was formally released in December 2022.

A Christmas edition - version 1.11 - has been released. I've added the browser based playlink below, and zipfile, along with links to the normal version.

Various iterations of the game were released on a Stardot thread. As with Androidz Redux, I have had a lot of help from fellow members of the Stardot community, to get the game completed.