Tong (2025)

Artist & Visual Direction - Miracle Tea

“Tong is a wild and fast-paced PvP food fight where you battle it out by licking everything in sight. Armed with your absurdly long tongue, compete in chaotic showdowns across grimy fast food joints to claim the golden crown. Customize your Tong with ridiculous hats, spray ketchup at foes, and uncover bizarre items in this hilarious, off-the-wall licking frenzy!“

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Tong was prototyped during the Crazy Games Multiplayer Jam under the theme ‘Action’. It was made entirely by two people, myself and programmer Thomas Andrews. My main responsibilities were visual style, assets, animation, UI, and visual implementation. What started as a short game jam prototype grew into a 3 month project that we later shipped on iOS, Android and CrazyGames and eventually brought to Steam with full Steam Deck support!

As this was our first ever online multiplayer game, we agreed the gameplay should be minimal to counter balance the dev time it took to learn Photon and prepare online features. We agreed on a reimagining of Allen Alcorn’s 1972 arcade game Pong, but with tongues. That limitation in gameplay helped inform a resourceful and economical art direction. The final build size and my assets were well optimised for web at around 28mb which helped lead to Tong being invited onto the platform by CrazyGames!

Animated scene of a table tennis game with cartoon characters, snacks, and drinks, with an audience cheering.
A cartoon character with a yellow body, large eyes, and a pink tongue sticking out, raising his arms with the word "TONG" in bold red letters above him.
Cartoon of a pink TV with a buttocks and a cartoon depiction of a pig's backside in the screen.

The target audience for the game was teenage boys aged 13 - 17 with a low-brow juvenile sense of humor. Influenced by underground illustration, early 2000s Flash games, and shows like Ren & Stimpy, The Simpsons, and Bottom, Tong blends absurdist British humor with hand-drawn charm. Accessibility was a priority throughout with large readable buttons, high-contrast visuals, and customisable background colours.

Tong was also featured on the front page of the Apple AppStore in many different categories after release in addition to CrazyGames and coverage from PocketGamer.

A Halloween-themed game screen with cartoon characters dressed as a witch and a pumpkin, engaged in a game involving potion bottles and a green slime splatter. The background is purple with cobwebs in the corners.
Cartoon illustration of an angry-looking bee with yellow and black stripes, white wings, and red cheeks, set against a black background.