The Blind Mice

A 2D tile-based platformer built in Java (Swing). You play as a mouse navigating a level, collecting letter tiles to spell words that grant temporary powers — then using those powers to outmaneuver obstacles and reach the exit.

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Team

• Jack — game logic, controller, power system
• Lena — art, sprites, UI design
• Ali — UI wiring, player/tile integration, scene assembly

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How to Run

./gradlew run

Requires Java 21+.

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Controls

Key	Action
A	Move left
D	Move right
W	Jump
S	Break tile below (when GROW is active)
Escape	Pause

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Gameplay

Each level is a grid of 40×24 tiles at 32 px each (1280×768 px). The mouse starts at the green Start tile and must reach the gold End tile to complete the level.

Letter tiles are scattered across the level. Walking through one adds it to your letter bank (shown in the HUD). When your collected letters can spell a power word, it activates automatically:

Word	Effect
JUMP	Higher jumps
LIFE	Restore one heart
SPEED	Faster movement
GROW	Break destructible walls
SMALL	Shrink hitbox

You start with 3 hearts. Touching a spike or enemy costs one heart. Zero hearts = game over.

Score = 10 000 − (elapsed time in 100 ms units) + (hearts remaining × 1000).

Progress is saved automatically. Beating a level unlocks the next one in Level Select.

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Levels

Level	Difficulty	Description
1	Intro	Ground path with 2 snake enemies; optional upper platforms hold JUMP and LIFE letters
2	Medium	Platform jumping required to reach the exit; SPEED and JUMP letter sets; mid-air spike traps; 3 snake enemies
3	Hard	Destructible block barriers require GROW power; dense spike fields; 4 enemies

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Tile Types

CSV Code	Tile	Behavior
W	Wall	Solid, impassable
E	Empty	Open floor / air
D	Destructible	Solid; breakable with GROW active
S	Spike	Damages player on contact
ST	Start	Player spawn point
EN	End	Level exit
ES	Enemy Spawn	Spawns a snake enemy at this position
L[x]	Letter	Collected on contact (e.g., LJ, LU)

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Project Structure

app/src/main/java/teamProject/
  controller/   GameController, GameLoop, EnemyController,
                GameEventListener (interface)
  model/        Game, PlayerEntity, EnemyEntity, Coordinate
    tiles/      Tile (interface), WallTile, EmptyTile, DestructibleTile,
                SpikeTile, LetterTile, StartTile, EndTile, TileMap,
                TileCoordinate, TileFactory
    strategies/ PowerStrategy (abstract), DefaultStrategy, SpeedStrategy,
                JumpStrategy, GrowStrategy, SmallStrategy
  view/         GameView, GamePanel, GamePanelBuilder,
                HudPanel, BaseMenuPanel, MenuPanel, WinPanel, LosePanel,
                PausePanel, LevelSelectPanel
  util/         AssetLoader, LevelLoader, GameConstants, SaveManager

app/src/main/resources/
  assets/
    entities/   mouseLeft.png, mouseRight.png, enemySnake.png
      gui/      redHeart.png, blackHeart.png
    panels/     level1Background.png, level2Background.png, level3Background.png
    tiles/      regularWall.png, destructibleWall.png, spike.png
                letters/ A.png … Z.png
  levels/       level1.csv, level2.csv, level3.csv

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Architecture / Design Patterns

Pattern	Where Used
Builder	GamePanelBuilder — fluent builder for constructing GamePanel with all sprites and references
Factory Method	TileFactory.fromCSV() — parses CSV into a TileMap; scene wiring is done directly in GameView's constructor
Strategy	PowerStrategy interface + GrowStrategy, SmallStrategy, SpeedStrategy, JumpStrategy, DefaultStrategy — swappable player behavior without branching logic in the controller
Observer / Listener	GameEventListener interface — controller fires events (onLevelComplete, onGameOver, onGamePaused, onScoreChanged, etc.); GameView reacts without tight coupling
MVC	Model: Game, PlayerEntity, EnemyEntity, tile classes; View: GameView + all panel classes; Controller: GameController, GameLoop, EnemyController

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Save System

Progress is stored in <project-dir>/saves/save.json as {"maxUnlockedLevel": N, "highScore": H}. SaveManager reads and writes this file using only the standard library. Beating level N unlocks level N+1 in the Level Select screen. The high score persists across sessions and is shown on the main menu.