VIOLET'S VISIONS
MY ROLE
Game Designer, Programmer
TEAM SIZE
Four team members. Two developers and two external collaborators (audio and programming support).
DESCRIPTION
A narrative mystery adventure game where players take on the role of Violet, a colourful cat witch, who moves into a new home and begins having visions that hint at a wider mystery about both the house's previous resident and the machinations of a deity.
YEAR & PROJECT LENGTH
Ongoing
GENRE
Point-and-Click, Puzzle, Mystery, 3D
PLATFORM
PC
Engine
Unity
PUZZLE & NARRATIVE DESIGN
DESIGN CONCEPT
Violet's Visions' is designed to explore new ways of delivering story and mystery through the point-and-click genre. I wanted players to feel curious about the mysterious world they had entered, alongside feeling smart when they applied their knowledge to solve a puzzle.
KEY DESIGN CHALLENGES
I was brought onto the project to lead design decision-making, but the world where the game takes place had already been crafted before I was involved. Due to the small size of our team, we needed to focus on a concept that could be executed quickly and without extensive technical expertise. Through this, the idea of a point-and-click narrative title was born.
This approach simplified the project from a technical standpoint but from a design perspective, this idea presented new challenges, specifically how to approach puzzle design, how to innovate on a heavily explored genre (point-and-click), and how to deliver the rich history of the world in a natural manner.
ADDRESSING THESE CHALLENGES
Before this project, I was not experienced in puzzle design outside of small, simple one-off projects. To address this, I read content surrounding puzzle design, which introduced me to the Puzzle Dependency Diagram (PDD).
I used PDDs to map out my thought process on the progression of the game's story through puzzles, as well as helping ensure that, where appropriate, there were multiple paths towards the same goal. I hinted at these alternative paths by through snippets of lore dotted throughout the environment, which served as both a reward for curious players and a great narrative design vehicle to deliver the rich story of the world, create stakes, and generate investment in the two mysteries of the game.
Finally, we had the challenge of working in a heavily explored genre, where many ideas had already been executed. I tackled this by leaning on the core mechanics that we had already built out - brewing potions, casting spells, and having visions. We are currently working on how we can turn these previously simple point-and-click activities into more interactive and engaging aspects of the gameplay experience, which will give the game something unique to differentiate it from its counterparts.
Puzzle Dependency Diagrams
Pre-Alpha Trailer