I've decided to take a look at the four main groups in the reptile species; crocodiles, snakes, lizards and turtles. From these I will pick one or two particular types from each to take a good look at and quickly develop a short inkling for a game they could be based around. Luckily for me I've grown up around reptiles (another reason I have chosen this topic) and have kept a variety of different ones as pets.
The Chameleon
Behaviour and aspects; Chameleons by far are one of the single most fascinating reptiles to me with their separately mobile stereoscopic eyes and very long extrudable tongue that they use to quickly spot and overpower their prey. Amongst these strange additions the feet of a chameleon are fused into a group of two and a group of three toes which oppose one another to grasp branches in a pincer-like arrangement almost like the zygodactyly feet of a parrot (two toes face forward and another two face backward) which allows them to grip to branches with excellent stability. They also harbour the ability to change colour to camouflage themselves into their surroundings, or use this ability as an expression of their health, mood and social indicator.
The Chameleon
This video is a perfect example of just how fascinating and brilliant these creatures are.
Game Idea; The chameleons most popular habitat of the jungle would be the setting. It could be set in the style like 'a day in the life of' where you need to eat, bask in the sunlight for energy and try to escape from birds trying to eat you while moving through the different levels of the jungle canopy. Eating the bugs around you gives you bonus energy points and as you go up into the sunlight to bask you have to be careful of predators. Perhaps throughout you have to make sure the chameleon is a similar colour to it's surroundings or you would end up in danger of being eaten.
Bearded Dragon (Pogona Vitticeps)
Above: My own Bearded Dragon, full adult female.
Behaviour and aspects; Bearded Dragons are the most common captive reptiles nowadays because of their relaxed and calm temperament that makes them easily tameable from a young age. They originally come from semi-woodland areas in central Australia but can be found all over peoples back gardens, basking on fence posts and mail boxes. They're not shy creatures. Males and females have quite different behavioural patterns. They are mostly solitary creatures but do come together to bask and feed in popular areas, this is where a social hierarchy is established so the most dominant male has the best basking spot on the highest rock and so on and so forth as it goes down the chain. Each Bearded Dragon has what's called a 'beard' underneath it's head. The lizard can inflate this part of it's body so it's spikes protrude, this is usually followed by a darkening of the area (mostly by males) and an open mouth to give the appearance of the reptile being larger. This is used in most situations where the lizard feels threatened or showing signs of dominance. Females when showing signs of submission 'wave' their arm in a slow rotation often changing from one to the other. Males do what's called 'head bobbing' where they violently bob their heads up and down, this is also followed by beard inflation often around the courting of a female.
Above: Male Bearded Dragon belonging to my partner, being fed a 'pinky' mouse.
Game Idea; Because Bearded Dragons use signs and actions to communicate with each other more so than some animals I could use this to create a game where players have to match the other action with the correct response. This could be incorporated into a larger game of other puzzles and structures.
