Pod Squad

illustration design game

A set of illustrated level backgrounds and a world map for a children's educational wellbeing app, built to make healthy habits feel like an adventure.

Problem

Khemistry had built a genuinely fun app to encourage kids to practice healthy activities and behaviours, but the existing level backgrounds needed to expand to match the personality of the app's epipod characters. Without that consistency, new levels would feel disconnected from the world kids had already come to know and like.

Solution

I worked closely with the content writers, designers and animators to build a series of chaotic, joke-filled backgrounds for each topic and area in the app, packed with easter eggs and quirky characters so every level felt like its own little world. Once the levels were illustrated, I designed a world map to act as the home screen, using cloud cover to visually track a player's progress and tease the adventures still waiting to be unlocked

Why it works

Kids engage more with worlds that reward curiosity, and the density of jokes and hidden details gives them a reason to look closely and come back to levels they have already finished. The world map turns simple progress tracking into its own bit of fun, so unlocking new content feels like an achievement rather than a menu screen.

Role

Character Design & Illustration

Credits

Client: Health and Wellbeing Queensland Agency: Khemistry Illustration: Cameron Pyke

Level illustration of a colourful reef full of aquatic creatures, corals and a ‘chip-wreck’. Plus lots of fun easter egg jokes for children to spot.

Level illustration of a colourful forest with funny frogs, waterfalls and the forgotten lunchbox temple. Plus lots of fun easter egg jokes for children to spot.

Level illustration of a colourful tree with branches spanning the image, a treehouse and picnic. Plus lots of fun easter egg jokes for children to spot.

Level illustration of a desert highway fuel station with a gorge and Australian animals. Plus lots of fun easter egg jokes for children to spot.

Level illustration of a grassy plain with a fun water park and lizards. Plus lots of fun easter egg jokes for children to spot.

Level illustration of a forest full of rainbows, flowers and uni-horn creatures of devices. Plus lots of fun easter egg jokes for children to spot.

Level illustration of burnt forest, a tree stump in the centre and a beam of light illuminates a seedling.

Illustration of the game world map while partially covered in clouds to hide the sections that have not yet been unlocked.

Illustration of the game world map showing all the different level biomes - rainbow woods, green forests, grass plains, dry deserts and coral reefs. Plus lots of fun easter egg jokes for children to spot.

Part of this project also had me creating the background art for an ‘I-spy’ style game set in the ‘Double Heart Reef’, where kids would be tasked with finding healthy foods placed on top of the chaotic image.

Screenshot of the Double Heart Reef I-spy game, showing healthy foods hidden among reef illustrations