Whitepot Studios partnered with Turnip + Duck to transform Atom Town, their educational preschool animation for RTÉjr, into an interactive Unity game prototype – Atom Town: Meet The Elements.
Turnip + Duck knew the characters, humour and educational ambitions of Atom Town inside out. They also knew that realising its transmedia potential by turning a television property into a satisfying game required specialist design and development experience. By working together, we could extend the world into a new medium while keeping the result true to the original IP.
Working with the supplied Toon Boom assets created by Treehouse Republic, we adapted the show’s existing characters, props and artwork for use in Unity. This allowed the game to feel immediately connected to the television property rather than like an unrelated experience wearing the same branding.
Designed like a digital doll’s house, the game allowed young players to drag characters and objects around the environment and discover how different combinations made the world react.
Putting a radio in the sink produced a burst of cartoon sparks. Giving a teddy bear to a character made hearts appear. There was no single prescribed route through the experience: curiosity, experimentation and playful cause and effect drove the game.
This made it possible to build richer, emergent interactions from the show’s existing assets while keeping the controls clear and accessible for children aged 3 to 7.
The project demonstrated how an animation studio or IP owner can extend an established world into games without needing to become a game developer themselves. Whitepot can work directly with creators and their existing production assets, combining their understanding of the property with our experience in game design, technical development and interactive children’s media.
Developed with support from Screen Ireland’s Animation Innovation and Immersive Development Fund, the prototype was showcased at Belfast Media Festival. Turnip + Duck and Whitepot Studios also presented the project at Animation Ireland Meitheal as a case study in transforming television IP into an interactive game.
Have an existing IP or collection of animation assets with interactive potential? We can help turn that world into something audiences can play.
