Catch the Fish! (Desktop Game)

Interactive 2D desktop game built with Python and Pygame where the player controls a cat to catch falling fish within a limited time.

Designed to demonstrate real-time event handling, sprite animation, collision detection, sound integration, and responsive game UI development.

Business Problem

Game development is one of the best ways to practice real-time programming concepts such as:

• Event-driven architecture
• Continuous game loops
• Dynamic object management
• Collision detection
• Multimedia integration
• State management

Many beginner projects focus only on static scripts, without demonstrating interactive real-time logic.

This project solves that by implementing a fully functional 2D desktop game with animation, scoring, timers, sound, and responsive design.

Solution

Catch the Fish! is a complete desktop game built using Pygame.

The system includes:

• Start screen with interactive button
• Main gameplay loop
• Game-over screen with replay functionality
• Animated cat sprite controlled by mouse movement
• Random fish spawning with dynamic speed
• Collision detection and score tracking
• Countdown timer (60 seconds)
• Resizable window with adaptive scaling
• Background music integration

The game uses structured state management to control transitions between screens and maintain a smooth gameplay experience.

Key Features

Gameplay Mechanics

• Mouse-controlled animated cat
• Randomly spawned falling fish
• Real-time collision detection
• Score increment on successful catch
• Countdown timer (60 seconds)
• Automatic game-over condition

UI & Visual Features

• Start screen with hover-effect button
• Play Again screen
• Dynamic window resizing
• Adaptive scaling for:
  • Sprites
  • Fonts
  • Buttons
• Animated sprite frames (controlled FPS)
• Clean pastel-themed design

Multimedia

• Background music (looped)
• Volume control via pygame.mixer
• PNG sprite assets

Technical Architecture

The project is structured around a state-driven architecture:

Game States

• start
• game
• game_over

Core Components

• Main game loop with FPS control
• Separate functions for:
  • Start screen
  • Game loop
  • Game over screen
• Sprite animation using frame timers
• Dynamic object spawning using pygame.Rect
• Frame-independent timing using pygame.time.get_ticks()
• Collision detection via rectangle intersection
• Responsive scaling logic for images and fonts
• Continuous background music using pygame.mixer

This mirrors foundational principles used in 2D game development.

Development Environment

• Language: Python 3.9.6
• Library: Pygame
• Operating System: macOS
• Editor: VS Code
• Assets & Sound: Itch.io
• Sprite Editing: Piskelapp

Tech Stack

• Python 3.9.6
• Pygame
• pygame.mixer
• Random module
• Sys module

Project Structure

catch_the_fish/
│
├── main.py
├── sounds/
│   └── CatMusic.wav
├── assets/
│   ├── Box3-1.png
│   ├── Box3-2.png
│   ├── Box3-3.png
│   ├── Box3-4.png
│   └── Goldfish.png
├── PixelOperatorHB8.ttf
└── README.md

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/maria-python/catch_the_fish.git
cd catch_the_fish

2. Install dependencies:

pip install pygame

Usage

Run the game:

python main.py

Gameplay Workflow

1. Launch the application
2. Click START
3. Move the mouse to control the cat
4. Catch falling fish to increase score
5. Avoid missing fish
6. Survive until timer reaches zero
7. View final score
8. Click PLAY AGAIN to restart

Results

• Demonstrates real-time game loop implementation
• Shows sprite animation and frame management
• Implements dynamic object spawning and cleanup
• Integrates sound and multimedia
• Applies responsive UI scaling
• Uses structured state management
• Simulates complete 2D desktop game architecture

Learning Outcomes

• Event-driven programming in Pygame
• Animation timing and FPS control
• Collision detection using Rect objects
• Managing dynamic lists of game objects
• Implementing timers and game duration logic
• Handling window resizing and adaptive scaling
• Integrating background music
• Designing interactive UI buttons

Future Improvements

• Multiple difficulty levels
• Increasing fish speed over time
• Power-ups and bonus items
• High-score saving system
• Leaderboard functionality
• Background scenery and particle effects
• Sound effects for catching fish
• Mobile adaptation

Author

Mariia Ilnitska

Junior Python Automation / Tech Assistant

Contacts

Gmail: maria.ilnitska11@gmail.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maria-ilnitska

Telegram: @mariailnitska