Magic Cat Academy


Magic Cat Academy is a browser game created as a Google Doodle and released on October 30, 2016. The game, made playable in place of the logo on the Google website, was created in celebration of Halloween.

Story and gameplay

Players control Momo, a sorcerer cat. She goes to a magic school and summons a ghost that steals her spellbook. Momo fights ghosts and bosses throughout five levels, taking place in the school's library, a cafeteria, a classroom, a gymnasium, and on the rooftop. Ghosts are defeated by clicking and swiping the mouse in certain directions, pertaining to the symbol atop the ghosts' heads. The swiping directions include an horizontal line, a vertical line, a "v" shape, a "ʌ" shape, and a lightning bolt, the latter-most of which summons lightning that destroys onscreen enemies. On occasion, the player will be allowed to swipe in a heart-like shape to regain health.

Development

The creation of the game was coordinated amongst four different design groups, relating to art design, engineering, production, and music. The original concept for the game involved Momo making soup that resurrects dead spirits. The game's development involved many rejected concepts and ideas, including elaborate symbols to draw, as well as boss enemies like a chef ghost and a Venn diagram ghost.
The character of Momo was based on a real-life cat belonging to Google Doodler Juliana Chen.