Video Game Overview Inspirations Levels Mechanics Art Dev
Interaction preview

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Game intro

Tale is a game in which players accompany the protagonist through an unusual village and use her special ability to solve various puzzles.

Interaction preview

Inspirations

I took inspirations of the combination of side-scrolling and narrative from Undertale and Planet of Lana. Visual and cultrual elements of this game are also from rural minority culture in China.

Interaction preview

Character

The protagonist first appears in the story as an abandoned infant, found with a strange stone beside her. No one in the village wants to take her in, since girls in rural communities are often seen as less valuable than boys, who can contribute more to farm work. Still, the villagers raise her together. But as she grows older, they decide to sell her into marriage for profit. On the day of the wedding, the stone slips from her hand and falls into a deep hole. So she jumps in after it..

Interaction preview Interaction preview

Animation

Character Still 1 Character Walk GIF
Character Still 2 Character Idle GIF
Character Still 3 Character Idle GIF

Levels

Level 1

She wakes up in a strange place. This chapter introduces her ability for the first time. She realizes that the stone she has carried all her life holds a powerful force in this unfamiliar world. With its power, players can melt ice and use a small boat to cross the river. A tree can also grow under the stone’s warmth, creating a path that allows her to climb up the riverbank.

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Use mechanic

The stone's warmth allows ice to melt so that player can go through.

Use mechanic

The stone's warmth allows plants to grow, forming platforms the player can climb.

Level 2

She enters a village where all the residents are animals. Players must help the protagonist find her way, complete the villagers’ requests, and use her power to create safe routes that allow her to escape the area. Along the way, players gradually learn about the environment and discover that the village is ruled by a predator that only appears at night. This makes her time-shifting stone even more valuable.

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Dialogue

Talk to the villagers to find the way out.

Dialogue

Talk to the villagers to recive task.

Use mechanic

Use the cold ability to make trees die. Obtian leaves(fire materials).

Use mechanic

Use the warm ability to make trees grow. Manage to escape.

Use mechanic

Use the warm ability to make plants grow. Manage to escape.

Level 3

Inside a cave filled with darkness, the player must rescue several predators that have been captured. Here, the fire-creating power introduced in the previous chapters becomes essential, allowing the player to clear obstacles and break a way out.

Interaction preview Interaction preview

Use mechanic

Use the warm ability to make ice melt. Use cold ability to freeze thr water. Break spider web.

Use mechanic

Use the cold ability to make trees die. Obtian leaves(fire materials).

Use mechanic

Use the warm ability to create fire. Manage to find the way out.

Mechanics

Various mechanics are used in this game to solve small puzzles.

Growth: the warm power during daytime allow plants to grow.
Decay: Accelerte aging of a plant.
Fire: set things on fire.
Place Item: Pressed 'X' to place item.
Ice: Use cold power in nightitme allow player to freeze water.
Melt: use warm power in daytime allow player to melt ice.

Art development

Narrative Flow Diagram Narrative Flow Diagram

Thank you for reading!

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