Sniff and Seek is a short point-and-click management game where you assemble a team of archeologist dogs to complete the T-Rex fossil!
our team of four registered to compete at University of Central Florida’s FIEA (Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy) 2026 Game Jam, an event that lasted 48 hours and hosted 20 undergraduate teams.
at the event, the theme EXPLORATION was announced. within in the first few hours, we decided to make a management game about cute dogs who explore for dinosaur fossils.
Marina DiPonio – project manager and UI/UX). Andres Maldonado – game design and sound. Brandon Sibbit – game systems and programming. Anna Kubart – character and environment art.
my role as the main artist was to start concepting the basic layout, the number of screens and how many characters we would have. we decided we would have two main screens – the backyard (where the dogs are) and the explorer’s tent (where the fossils are). with the input of my team members, we decided that we would have five dogs who correspond to five fossils.
there are a total of five dogs, all of different breeds. each dog fetches a special fossil and has its own unique skill. I designed each dog to have an accessory to indicate that they are explorers!
a friendly and enthusiastic golden retriever. cowboy is the first dog you adopt in the game, and he finds the femur.
cowboy was the first dog I illustrated for this project, so the design choices like line weight, color, and rendering really mattered! I decided to go with colored lineart, basic cell shading, and a warm, kids’ book color scheme.
cowboy eats and plays faster – so you can find bones faster!
a hard-working and hungry french bulldog. he loves belly rubs and finds the humerus.
pibble’s design was inspired by real-life internet sensation pibble. I used a more textured brush for his fur patterns to match his hard-working personality.
pibble’s big mouth allows him to bring back more bones, the currency for buying upgrades.
a high-class but still silly chihuahua. despite her small size, she brings back the biggest bone – the spine!
for pearl’s design, my teammates requested that she look extra silly. I wanted to balance her design between adorable and crusty!
this strong and independent girl doesn’t need sleep – so she can go out on explorations more often!
a forgetful but super-fast greyhound! he brings back the tail.
similarly to pibble, I used some more textured brushes for his fur patterns to denote that he doesn’t mind getting a little dirty! he’s designed to look like there are no thoughts in his head.
his super speed allows him to retrieve bones much faster than the other dogs.
a bloodhound with a kind, old soul. he is the last dog you get in the game.
because biscuit is the most experienced, he wears a professional explorer’s backpack on his back.
his experience and his kind heart help to boost the other dogs’ luck. this is especially helpful if one of your dogs is having some trouble finding their fossil!
there are two scenes in the game – the backyard where the dogs await adventure, and the explorer’s tent where the fossils are assembled into the T-Rex skeleton.
this environment was inspired by storybook illustration styles, with warm colors, rough brushwork, and a combination of textures. I used Photoshop’s adjustment layers and some dry brushes to give it more depth.
this is one of the three ‘stations’ in which the dogs have to go to recharge their energy bars. there are three color states for the three upgrades available.
this environment is where the T-Rex fossil is displayed. players can check throughout their playthrough to see which fossils they have found and which ones they are still searching for. similarly to the backyard, I used a variety of brushes to add texture and depth to the scene.
the T-Rex fossil separates into five pieces: arms, legs, tail, spine, and skull, each of which is collected by a different dog. I used reference to real T-Rex fossils to create a simplified and cartoon version of the classic dinosaur.
our team is so proud to present the final version of our game – Sniff & Seek! we did so much in less than 48 hours: came up with a fun and family-friendly concept, created memorable characters with fun gameplay, and delivered a polished and complete game!
you can play Sniff & Seek in browser at the link below (or for download for Windows and Mac)!
