DESCRIPTION & INSPIRATION

In designing this game, we wanted to explore a bounded single-player adventure game where the main character interacts with various elements of the environment. The main themes we wanted to convey to the player were a sense of both freedom and constraint, as well as adventure and strategy. We went through various ideas of what kind of landscape we could use to adequately communicate these seemingly contradictory notions. We decided that a vast island terrain would effectively communicate the theme we wanted to convey especially that of adventure and freedom.
To convey a sense of both freedom and constraint, we designed the island in such a way that the player has a lot of flexibility in how they approach the challenge of getting off the island, but they must also be mindful of the boundaries and limitations imposed by the environment. To communicate the theme of strategy, we decided to place three key components (a key, a chest, and enemies) that the player has to navigate through, and since the island is vast, there are multiple strategies the player could adopt to get off it.
Finally, the island terrain, with its sense of freedom and constraint, adventure and strategy, serves as the perfect backdrop for the player to embark on their epic journey to escape this strange place.