Detachment: the game
Tiny game created over the 48 hours of 2013 Global Game Jam in Prague with Karel Matejka as main graphic artist and Filip Pokorny as coder (full credits and download link are here).
Setting
A journey through the desert, set in a landscape that doesn't -- and shouldn't -- remind you of anything you know. The only point of familiarity is the relationship between the two people on the journey. Even when we don't know what their relationship is exactly, we know the man will protect the girl at all costs.
A journey through the desert, set in a landscape that doesn't -- and shouldn't -- remind you of anything you know. The only point of familiarity is the relationship between the two people on the journey. Even when we don't know what their relationship is exactly, we know the man will protect the girl at all costs.
They walk against the wind, and as the game progresses, the wind grows stronger.
Player's role is to catch light circles that are also carried by the wind -- we can see it as a hope metaphor.
Narrative mechanics
Given the limited scope, there were three levels of the game with growing difficulty, each introducing their own mechanic.
I focused on narration through the game mechanics.
1. TAKE
As the story begins, the man reaches his hand to the girl and they set on the journey.
Player collects simple light circles by tapping (taking) them.
2. PULL
Resisting the wind is getting harder. The characters shrug against it, pulling closer to each other.
Player pulls light circles, connected by a line, to each other.
3. HOLD
The girl stumbles and falls. The man helps her up and from now on carries her on his back.
Player holds finger on concentric light circles until the smaller one reaches the same size as the bigger one.
Descriptions / storyboards
1:
Story: They walk hand in hand, no visible effort. From time to time the wind blows stronger
Sound: Loud, sad melody
Intermezzo: The girl stumbles, the man grasps her hand tighter and they continue walking, he's clearly pulling her
2:
Story: The man pulls the girl, the wind grows, they bend forward to escape the wind
Sound: The howling of the wind grows stronger, making the melody harder to hear, yet still distinctible
Intermezzo: The girl stumbles again, this time she stops. The man slows down and crouches, so the girl can walk to him and climb on his back. He straightens again and they set out again.
3:
Story: The wind is visibly very strong, the characters walk slow and lean into the wind.
Sound: The melody is almost inaudible through the wind
Fail:
Player can make a mistake (let the circles to leave the left side of the screen) 3 times.
First: Characters cringe lower and stop walking, the only movement is the wind; then they straighten back and continue
Sound: Sad light sigh
Second: Characters lower into the sand; getting back up is visibly harder
Sound: Heavier sigh
Third (endgame): They fall apart and the wind carries the girl away, while the wind grows even stronger
Sound: Everything taken over by the wind
Win: The wind stops, and so do the characters. The sky gets lighter and brighter and the camera zooms out, showing a destination on reachable distance.
Game over
