John N. Farmer
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Interactive Experiences

Pop Stars

Six neon worlds. Two songs. One last dance with Daddy B.

Ownership
Creative Direction, Game Design & Development
Current status
Live, playable browser game on Clarapetra.
Designed for
Clarapetra listeners and players looking for a short, replayable arcade adventure.
Case study
2 min read
Pop Stars start screen showing Clarapetra in a lime-green outfit with a blaster against a violet moon and a two-song campaign panel.

Executive summary

The decision brief

Ownership, the central tradeoff, collaboration boundaries, and what the current record supports.

Period
2026
Organization / context
Clarapetra / OMIKINA RECORDS
Category
Interactive Experiences

Direct public artifacts

  1. 01 Role

    Creative Direction, Game Design & Development

  2. 02 Key decision / tradeoff

    Keep the rules of movement and combat deterministic while allowing the music to drive light and atmosphere; the game remains playable when sound is muted or unavailable.

  3. 03 Collaboration boundary

    An independent Clarapetra project directed by John N. Farmer, with AI-assisted art and development workflows.

  4. 04 Current evidence

    The public game was played through its tutorial, six levels, Daddy B battle, and victory screen in browser verification on September 24, 2026. Public desktop and emulated mobile checks also covered controls, audio, and leaderboard access.

    Documented period · 2026

Scope & evidence

Outputs, evidence, and limits

Outputs describe what was made or delivered. The evidence boundary below states what has—and has not—been validated.

  • TypeScript
  • React
  • Canvas 2D
  • Web Audio
  • Firebase

Responsibilities

  • Creative direction and character-world extension
  • Campaign, combat, and interaction design
  • Pixel-art environment and animation direction
  • Soundtrack integration and reactive lighting
  • Browser development and mobile refinement

Documented outputs & delivery record

  1. Released a playable campaign with a tutorial, six distinct levels, and a multi-phase Daddy B finale.
  2. Connected the Pop Stars and Daddy We Bounce recordings to reactive stage visuals, with a soundtrack change at the finale.
  3. Added keyboard and touch controls, checkpoints, a saved local best, and a separate replay-validated Pop Stars leaderboard.

Visual archive

Selected visuals

2 selected images from the project archive.

Pop Stars gameplay in Disco Orbit, with Clarapetra running and firing beneath a mirror ball, neon lights, and dancing robot and bunny figures.
Pop Stars01 / 02
Pop Stars final battle, with Clarapetra facing a giant pink crowned Daddy B in a neon mothership arena.
Pop Stars02 / 02

Full story

How the work took shape

A record becomes a playable world

Pop Stars brings Clarapetra’s music and character world into an arcade campaign. Clarapetra crosses a starship bridge, lunar cliffs, a disco orbit, crystal foundry, neon skyline, and Daddy B’s mothership before the final encounter. Each level changes the scenery and the pressure of play while keeping the route and threats legible.

The game begins with a playable training deck. Movement, jumping, aiming, firing, and dashing lead into a run that encounters walkers, bouncing robots, hovering foes, gunners, and bunny enemies. Checkpoints offer a way back after a defeat, while score, combos, and a local best encourage another attempt.

Music shapes the scene

The Pop Stars recording drives the journey. At the Daddy B finale, the game changes to Daddy We Bounce, presented inside the game as the Ruby Red chapter. Beat cues and live audio analysis animate lighting, speaker rings, equalizers, and dance-floor effects. The music can be muted; timing, collisions, and scoring continue independently of playback.

The game’s violet space settings, lime-green heroine, pink bunny adversary, and crowded club make the songs visible without relying on the player to know the wider artist story. The finale enlarges Daddy B into a three-phase boss battle with visible attack warnings.

Built for a complete run

The same campaign supports keyboard play on desktop and touch controls in portrait or landscape. A fixed-step simulation keeps input and score rules consistent, while reduced effects make the visual layer adjustable. Pop Stars has its own shared leaderboard, with server-side replay validation for ranked runs; a personal best still saves on the device when shared scores are unavailable.

The public game was verified through a full browser playthrough on September 24, 2026. That check demonstrated the six levels, soundtrack transition, finale, and victory screen; it did not establish long-term player or commercial impact.

Play Pop Stars, or explore the related Clarapetra and Daddy We Bounce projects.

A relevant next step

Have a world people should be able to play?

Let's connect character, music, and interaction in a browser experience that invites people in and gives them a reason to return.

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