Devlog #1 – Pink Pong Hero

Saif Khan
Sep 11, 2025
2 min read

Introduction

Pink Pong Hero (working title) is a personal challenge project where I set out to design and ship a complete mobile game in just 7 days. I’ve always enjoyed playing table tennis outside of game development, so creating a digital version felt like the perfect way to stay motivated while testing my rapid prototyping skills.

Development Goals

One of my recurring struggles with personal projects has been scope creep and unfinished prototypes. To counter this, I gave myself a strict rule: keep the scope small, focus on the essentials, and deliver a playable game.

This project isn’t about polished graphics or complex systems — it’s about proving to myself that I can take a game from concept to completion within a tight deadline.

Core Mechanics (Day 1–2 Progress)

During the first couple of days, my main priority was building the foundation of gameplay:

✅ Hit Zones for the Ball – Defined the regions where ball interaction occurs.
✅ Return Logic – Implemented simple rules for both the player and AI to return the ball.
✅ Joystick Control – Added basic player movement via virtual joystick.
✅ Debug Visuals – Temporary on-screen guides to tune hit accuracy and physics.

All of this was built in Unity, using free community assets to keep the focus squarely on mechanics rather than art.

Current Status

At this stage, the game isn’t flashy — but it’s functional and fun, which is the most important milestone for an early prototype. The ball bounces, the player can return shots, and the AI responds as expected. That’s enough to call the foundation a success.

Next Steps

In the coming days, I’ll work on:

Completing the game loop (scoring, round resets, win/loss states).
Improving AI behavior to feel more dynamic.
Adding visual polish once the mechanics are locked down.

The goal is simple: ship a playable game in one week and share the results as an indie devlog series.

Closing Thoughts

This project is both a personal challenge and a lesson in discipline. By limiting scope and focusing only on what matters, I’ve already made more progress in a few days than on past side projects that dragged on for months.

Stay tuned for Devlog #2, where I’ll showcase the completed game loop and first playable build of Pink Pong Hero.

-Saif