The Werecleaner Nominated Apple Mobile Game of The Year: A USC Games AGP Project is A Mobile Success!
by Desa Philadelphia
In a world where you’re a cute little werewolf janitor who just wants to clean up your office building and be done with it, what happens when pesky human co-workers keep sneaking up on you? You eat them of course! But that means you now have an even bigger mess to clean up, while still trying to avoid the humans! The cleaning never stops!
No this isn’t a revival of Teen Wolf where Scott gets a job. This is WereCleaner, a comedy game from USC Games’ Advanced Games Project (AGP) capstone class. WereCleaner follows Kyle, a little werewolf cleaner who frequently gets startled by all the human co-workers on the loose, and has no choice but to pounce on them, and kill them, creating a bloody mess. He then has to clean up all the gory mess he has created without being discovered by another human. If that happens, it’s game over! Add to that, there’s a character named Daryl the office security guard, who is beginning to suspect something’s wrong!
The game launched in May at the end of year USC Games Expo. Since then, it has racked up more than a million downloads and won the Best Student Game at the 16th Unity Game Awards. It was also a runner-up for iPhone Game of the Year, not surprising since it has a 4.5 rating (as of this writing) on the App Store and is an Editor’s Choice pick. It’s Discord server also has more than 5,000 members.
Screenshot from “The Werecleaners”
The idea for WereCleaner was proposed by Mason “Moose” Sabharwal, an Interactive Media & Games major who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in May. Sabharwal, who served as Director and Creative Lead for the game, wanted to make the situations as absurd as possible, bringing the tried-and-true formula of “hilarity ensues” to the game design. As he told Annenberg Media, the idea of the turning the usual narrative on its head and making the hunter (werewolf) into the hunted (by the humans) is what made the game compelling when he pitched it to the AGP class: “One thing that I think made me stick with the idea of The WereCleaner was that idea of: ‘okay, we’re flipping stuff on its head.
Abby Farhat, marketing lead and IOS developer for the game, told Annenberg that while they didn’t expect the game to blow up as it did, it was immediately clear that it was a crowd pleaser. “Play tests alone showed us that, ‘okay, we’ve made a game that’s pretty fun,’” said Farhat. “When you watch people play and they simply kill someone for the first time, there’s a moment there. That was the exact moment that we wanted to get from the game. They’re rushing to clean up all the mess that they made and everything’s going crazy. It totally is that moment that always gets a response when people play it online, which is awesome.”
The game’s popularity also benefitted from a last-minute pivot in its development, and the idea to not just release it for PC but also on mobile. While it meant a lot more work for the team, it was the crucial decision for ensuring its popularity. Also the cuteness level of Kyle, the busy little werecleaner can’t be discounted!
The idea for WereCleaner was proposed by Mason “Moose” Sabharwal, an Interactive Media & Games major who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in May. Sabharwal, who served as Director and Creative Lead for the game, wanted to make the situations as absurd as possible, bringing the tried-and-true formula of “hilarity ensues” to the game design. As he told Annenberg Media, the idea of the turning the usual narrative on its head and making the hunter (werewolf) into the hunted (by the humans) is what made the game compelling when he pitched it to the AGP class: “One thing that I think made me stick with the idea of The WereCleaner was that idea of: ‘okay, we’re flipping stuff on its head.
Abby Farhat, marketing lead and IOS developer for the game, told Annenberg that while they didn’t expect the game to blow up as it did, it was immediately clear that it was a crowd pleaser. “Play tests alone showed us that, ‘okay, we’ve made a game that’s pretty fun,’” said Farhat. “When you watch people play and they simply kill someone for the first time, there’s a moment there. That was the exact moment that we wanted to get from the game. They’re rushing to clean up all the mess that they made and everything’s going crazy. It totally is that moment that always gets a response when people play it online, which is awesome.”
The game’s popularity also benefitted from a last-minute pivot in its development, and the idea to not just release it for PC but also on mobile. While it meant a lot more work for the team, it was the crucial decision for ensuring its popularity. Also the cuteness level of Kyle, the busy little werecleaner can’t be discounted!
"The faculty and staff of USC Games couldn't be more proud of the Werecleaner student team's numerous successes,” says Danny Bilson, Director of USC Games and Chair of the Interactive Media & Games Division. “Their dedication and passion for their project has been truly exemplary."
Check out the trailer for The WereCleaner and get it on the action!