Mr. Bladder Has To Go
Game Overview
Mr. Bladder Has To Go is a whimiscal balancing game where you play as an anthropomorphic bladder with social anxiety and an urgent need to go. As players navigate the vibrant, body-themed world of Organtopia and interact with a charming cast of characters, they must manage his rising pee levels before he spills all over the place and dies of embarassment. A looming mystery of sabotaged toilets is also unfolding, and it's up to Mr. Bladder to discover who is behind it. This game is one of USC's Advanced Games Projects (AGP) for the 2026-2027 year.
Trailer
Responsibilities and Accomplishments
Technical Producer
- Collaborated with the Lead Producer to define development milestones, document weekly team meetings, and organize teambuilding events for summer production.
- Coordinated communication between engineering and production, relaying technical progress, evaluating project scope, and facilitating cross-departmental discussions
- Identified and escalated project blockers, actively resolving cross-team communication bottlenecks and personnel issues to keep development on schedule
- Structured QA pipelines by programming automated defect report systems and streamlining communication with Engineering for bug resolution
- Developed a Python bot utilizing Discord and Google Calendar APIs to automate team scheduling and notifications
- Established core project standards by authoring a team culture document that explicitly defined communication expectations, task timelines, conflict resolution, and centralized support resources
Key Takeaways
- Buffer Time is Essential: Initial time estimates rarely account for iteration or unexpected emergencies, making risk management a critical part of planning
- Outline Clear Expectations: Establishing documented expectations about work and communcation early on is vital to preventing dropped tasks, reducing team burnout, and keeping members engaged
- Pipeline Alignment Reduces Blockers: I realized the importance of maintaining deliverable schedules between designers and engineers to prevent production bottlenecks and keep development moving
- A Happy Team is a Productive Team: I saw firsthand how dedicated team-building events directly correlate with a healthier team culture
Production Workflows
Task Management: Organized the team's Codecks workspace, tracking project velocity, organizing feature backlogs, and ensuring clear task alignment across technical disciplines.
BladderBot: Programmed a custom Discord bot to natively manage Google Calendar events, invitees, and meeting reminders via slash commands.
QA Bug Reporting System: Developed an automated QA script using Google Forms and Sheets to index bug reports.