I came up with the idea of Eggtraterrestrial Chickens as one of my first game ideas, but I struggled with refining the game concept. I knew I wanted to create a space shooter where chickens were your ammo and health, but I felt the game lacked an additional core element. I initially thought of tieing the player's speed to how many chickens the player has, but I was unsure whether more chickens would make the player move faster or slower, and the mechanic did not seem very fun. Several game projects later, I realized I could reinvigorate Eggtraterrestrial Chickens with lite-RTS elements similar to Pikmin by using chickens to deliver golden seeds to your chicken coop for points. This addition requires the player to choose whether to prioritize keeping their chickens for health and ammo or efficiently collect seeds with the risk of having fewer chickens. This juggling act was the missing piece to making Eggtraterrestrial Chickens and mechanically interesting and fun game.

The Hawk enemies the player faces also contribute to the game flow. There are the exploding hawks that fly straight to the player, and purple hawks will shoot at the player, which requires different responses from the player. These hawks will hunt down the player and serve as the main threat that the player has to protect their chickens from. The hawks also spawn more frequently in later waves, increasing difficulty as the game progresses. Defeating hawks rewards extra chickens that allow more efficient delivery of seeds while providing more health and ammo. This potential source of infinite chickens is countered by a time limit to collect the seeds. Thus, the hawks provide an increasing and varied obstacle to the player and feed into the game's core systems of collecting chickens, firing them, and delivering.

When implementing controls for Eggtraterrestrial Chickens, I wanted to design the game to control with only the mouse. This system may seem restrictive, but it makes the controls more accessible and intuitive. Since your movement and aiming are tied to the mouse, the player must juggle offense and evasion to succeed. I believe this control scheme created a unique dynamic with a somewhat dance-like flow.

After creating the core mechanics and controls, I needed to decide on the game structure. I was conflicted between whether to implement a level-based system or a high-score structure. I deemed an arcade-style experience fit the game mechanics the best since delivering golden seeds could serve as the source of points and allow progression to further waves. Even with this high-score structure, I preserved aspects of a level-based system through a couple of arenas the player can play in. Level gimmicks like orbiting meteors and slipstreams were able to spice up the various arenas and add variety. I believe I achieved the best of both approaches of level-based and high-score structures in Eggtraterrestrial Chickens.

Eggtraterrestial Chickens evolved a lot from its original idea. Still, I believe the result is an arcade experience with intertwining systems connected by the core mechanic of firing and collecting chickens.