Nocturne is a 2D puzzle platformer based on the composition of music. Players must help a group of Nocturnals (creatures of the forest that sleep during the day in darkness) traverse the Twisted Divide. A wicked and scintillating forest that twist in upon itself.
The Nocturnal will walk forward indefinitely, they are blind and navigate purely by sound. Normally this works to their advantage but the Twisted Divide is a place much more hostile place filled with dissonant echoes and horrifying symphonies. Players take on the role of the Melody, the Nocturnals mysterious god who is able to lead them through the Twisted Divide. The Melody does this by composing music to guide the Nocturnals. But the compositions don't just guide the Nocturnal, they alter the landscape of the Twisted Divide. Players compositions are converted into imagery similar to visualizers common in modern media players, become the wind or the water of an area and shaping the way the landscape moves, potentially hindering or helping the nocturnal on their path.
The key to Nocturne is how players are taught, if the game only appeals to composers or musicians it won't succeed as a design. Carefully teaching players how compositions work through simple development of compositional knowledge using game levels to teach players through a mix of trial and error and guided examples. If the game can successfully teach players even simple aspects of this while using the engine to gloss input into beautiful tracks players will be put in a state of wonder as they try to create interesting and beautiful solutions to levels. Combining this with the potential for players to share their tracks and playthroughs either using an internal system or common streaming or video sharing services
●Music made by the player
●Unique art style
●Alternate and complex puzzler game play
Weave is a 2D side scroller in which players explore dungeons made from tapestries. Players fight unique enemies and solve puzzles and traps all based on the tapestry they are exploring, to do all of these things they weave new information into the tapestry using threads they obtain from clearing dungeons.
Weave plays like a standard 2D side scroller with combo based combat based on timed presses of buttons. The games unique mechanic is called Weave, the ability to see the threads that make every object in the game what they are and rewrite them. When players activate weave they will pause time and begin to drain weave meter which is built by collecting weave orbs, completing combos or solving obstacles in unorthodox ways. When in weave players can remove, add or change threads in enemies, puzzles or traps to alter their behaviour. Changing thread requires nothing while removing thread gives the player a slightly weaker version of the thread they removed and adding thread consumes thread from your inventory. Using this mechanic the game offers a huge increasing difficult curve which borders on impossible in later levels unless players make good use of thread. Examples of this could be making traps heal, removing the invincibility of a monster or altering a puzzle to be partially completed.
While players do have a set of campaign tapestries they can complete which cover the mythologies of a variety of cultures they are also able to create their own tapestries and share them online for others to play.
Weave aims to encourage player to think outside of the box when interacting with the variety of obstacles they will face, rewarding additional points for solving things in ways that are less straightforward. Weave meter is rewarded for solving obstacles in unorthodox ways (essentially any solution that is not the "standard solution") which is very important. In doing this players who enjoy particular aspects of the game such as puzzles or combat will be rewarded for excelling at these activities, in giving players these rewards they have more power when approaching sections they may not enjoy making these portions more painless. For example a player who enjoys combat may earn extra weave and threads in combat which they will use to simplify puzzles or remove traps they find frustrating. Doing this allows the player to do more of what they enjoy without damaging the contentthey have access too. Naturally some players will want to clear all the content and will be rewarded with additional thread, while these players may gain too much power this isn't a bad thing as artificially capping these rewards would create a negative player experience and damage positive permanence. Additional levels that encourage players to use all of their abilities to solve them or spend thread to access them could be a potential solution to this if it proves problematic in focus groups though it should not be necessary
●Unique mechanic to alter the world
●Play more of what you like and shorten the parts you don't
●Unique level building system
●Extremely difficult game play which encourage players to alter the world in clever ways
Summary
The Way She Falls is a 2D platformer focused on light and time. Players play as the king of shadows who is in love with the sun and searches the world trying to find a way to get closer to her. The game focusses on the unique interaction between light and time to create a deep puzzle and platforming experience
Game-play
The Way She Falls is a 2D platformer and puzzle game, players navigate puzzles made of shadow by manipulating light in various different ways. Players move forward by advancing time hence changing the angle of the sun and adjusting the shape of the level. Likewise when players move backwards they reverse the path of the sun, undoing any changes to the shadows but leaving any changes to the level in place but only at that time, for example if the player pulls a lever at one minute into the level the lever will still be pulled, but only at the one minute mark when the player would have.
The king of shadows is also the most powerful of all shadows, able to reach a little way out of his two dimensional existence into the third dimension and alter the objects around the level to change or make new shadows.
In each level players seek out the last rays of the sun to gain a little of her attention and find a way to get closer to her however once the sun is gone players play through moonlit levels, the moon is the suns evil sister and seeks to stop the king of shadows reaching her by sending her own followers after him. In the night levels the king of shadows is weaker and the light changes are out of his control, at the whimsy of the moon. The moon will also send people such as night watchmen with torches or graffiti artists to try and hinder or destroy the king of shadows.
Mindset
The King of Shadows is a basic puzzle games, during the day the players take on challenging puzzles and ideas by manipulating time to get closer to their objective while during the night players face off against the moon in a time trial to test the skills they learn during the day and possibly learning new skills. The two cycles are symbiotic, the day levels teach players to look for certain indicators and types of puzzles helping them to easily identify them when they play the night levels where the light changes out of their control however during the night levels because the moon controls the light the game can show players partials solutions to puzzles that might not be so obvious, providing them the full puzzle during the next day cycle. Using this method to indirectly teach players should help to provide a more refined and rewarding game and hopefully move towards a state of flow by keeping gameplay challenging but giving players all the tools they need to succeed.
Highlights
● Unique use of time and light
● Difficult puzzle solving
● Controlled difficulty curve by teaching mechanics in the two cycles
Summary
Innocence is a 2D Side scrolling platformer. Players play faerie couriers racing through the fey wilds to deliver their packages while trying to earn a bonus by collecting the fragments of innocence found in the dreams of human children. The fey wilds are a chaotic maze of forests which change on their own whimsy however, they reflect the emotions of the human world in a physical form which is both dangerous and highly prized to the faerie people. The wilds are usually locked by the faerie lords due both to danger and greed however a few daring souls have found backways into the wilds, selling their services as high speed couriers able to transport packages via the fey roads in hours compared to the traditional days and if they happen to pick up a few pieces of contraband on the way through… well who is to know the better
Gameplay
Players start each level by buying a load out of gear, traps to capture dreams from the wilds and utility pieces (grappling hook, magic compass, lock picks) to quickly navigate it. All gear is expendable and once it is used players will need to buy new gear to replace it. Once they are ready to go the level begins.
Gameplay plays out as a standard fast paced 2D platformer. Players quickly negotiate obstacles using double jumps, wall runs and climbing to clear obstacles, there is no time limit however the faster players complete levels and deliver their packages the more bonus pay they get. As they progress through levels players have the option to try and trap Dreams, creatures that are the reflection of positive human emotions, trapping dreams turns them into innocence which is prized among the faerie people and has no noticeable effects making it ideal for a sneaky courier to make some extra earnings. Innocence can be consumed by the courier to dream-phase, shooting the character in a direction of their choosing through all obstacles without taking any damage. If the player saves the innocence to the end of the level they can use it to improve their skills and improve the quality of the gear they can buy, if they don't have enough innocence they can purchase some with money earned from missions.
Sometimes couriers will come across nightmare zones in the fey wild. In nightmare zones a strong negative emotion is present and the dreams become nightmares. Nightmare zones are dangerous and difficult to traverse, players can choose to attempt to purify the nightmare zone, solving a puzzle to change its landscape and receiving bonus innocence, or they can try move through it to in favour of a faster time.
As players improve their gear they will be able to expand their operation with the goal of becoming the greatest courier ever to run the fey wilds.
Mind-set
Innocence is a simple 2D platformer designed with light hearted fun in mind. While fast times can earn bonuses the goals should be fairly broad allowing players to easily earn the highest bonus if they act with time at the forefront of their decision making. The game aims to have a relaxed but foreign atmosphere, using the common themes found in forests but with an alien element to emphasise the strangeness of the place they are in
Highlights
● Simple
● Rewards for skilled played
● Relaxing atmosphere
● Unique world with distinct art style
