Memories
Memories is a game developed during Global Game Jam 2021. A first-person puzzle game where the player needs to solve puzzles to recall their memories and find the way out.
A sensitive game where the main character gets stuck in his memories, going through memories such as childhood games, first love and even those saddest memories suffered by bullying.
In this project I was responsible for Game and level design and programming.
Documentation
The documentation for this project was simplified due to the jam's production time, but it aimed to guide other teams in their productions.
The image above gives you a basic idea of the game's first two puzzles.
First room - child's play
In this room the player receives the clue to the puzzle "I went to the market, don't forget to give Jake some food". In this room, the player has tracks on the floor and a toy cat connected to this track, as well as a pot of food in a position on the track.
Using the cat control located in front of the track, the player must direct the cat to the food bowl to release the key, solving the puzzle. One of the controls moves the cat forward and the other rotates the cat around its own axis.
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Note: After testing with players, I realized that this puzzle was very boring, and really broke the player's expectations. The quickest solution to deliver the game on time was to change the cat's initial position, meaning that the player needed fewer commands to take the cat to the food bowl. It improved a little, but it would need an adjustment to the cat's control mechanics to make it more dynamic.
Second room - My first love
The lighting in the room is positioned to indicate the objectives to the player, as it is a room with many elements.
The player can interact with the piano keys, each key emits its own musical note, which in addition to being part of solving the puzzle adds a great element of succulence to the game.
In the center we have a doll of a girl crying and a balloon and a balloon away from her, indicating to the player that the solution to the puzzle lies in returning the balloon to her.
Next to each piano we have a radio marked "A" and the other radio marked "B".
The objective here is for the player to find the lost radio tapes in the room and place them on the respective radios to hear the correct melody and try to replicate it on the piano keys.
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Note: I was very satisfied with this puzzle, and all the players' tests were able to complete and at the end of the puzzle, an animation of the doll, the beginning of a striking song and the revelation of a secret passage served very well as a prize for the players. . However, some players had difficulty recognizing the musical notes.
Last room - Bullying
The last room of the game deals with a heavier subject, bullying. When the player enters this room the music changes to something dark, the textures on the walls become old and torn and the lighting becomes dim.
The player needs to find 3 keys to deactivate a mechanism that represents bulling in the center of the room. As the lighting is very low, the player must use the mechanics of being able to carry objects and carry flashlights to help him find his way around this room, here the flashlight symbolizes the actions and people that help us follow when we are on dark paths.
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Note: This room had a simpler puzzle compared to the previous ones, but the setting should bring anguish and discomfort, something that worked well. The mechanic of using the flashlight was something that didn't work very well, as it wasn't so clear to the players how it worked, since it was the first time they needed it, it should have been presented and used in some previous room to reinforce the apprenticeship.