GN! Game Jam

Aalto’s Devlog #11 / 7th - 12th November 2023

Coming up with narrative-puzzle idea with hidden object game mechanics.
Creating assets into a grid system to craft inventory-like gameplay and art.
Editing a video mockup showcasing the main game idea.

추억의 메아리

Theme: Missing

(Echoes of Memories)

Games Now! (GN!) Game Jam is all about multicultural collaboration, where teams were formed mixing jammers from different time zones, languages and universities. In our team, there were people working from South Korea, Brazil, Finland, United States and Ireland. Since our team had many members around the globe, we approached this project with the idea that everyone should focus on doing a small part on the project.

Echoes of Memories (추억의 메아리), a puzzle game, invites players on an emotional journey as Pepper, a 27-year-old inheritor of their late grandmother Aster's house in the evocative landscapes of New England. With three distinct stages: 'The Mystery,' 'The Ghosts' and 'The Missing', the game offers a compelling blend of conventional storytelling and artistic exploration. The game prototype was crafted to the GN! Game Jam 2023 under the theme 'Missing'.

Jussi Kenkkilä, Anna Ledovska, Marina Barbosa, Rosanna Wang, Maxim Gladkov, Heewook Kim, Chan Lee, Jaidly Anciso, Nestor Feijoo Melián

Team

Sketches

The Jam’s theme inspired us to think about narrative puzzles and hidden object games. The initial sketching explored these ideas and, together with a narrative inspiration, we developed further the concept of using hidden objects to tell a story. We iterated some puzzle ideas and I created a quick prototype to explore these mechanics in a visual way.

Initial sketch for a matching-game with many characters

Puzzle ideas of item sorting and item combination

Interactivity and narrative sketch made in Figma

Quick moodboard

Grid-based items

The initial sketches inspired me to create a tile system to sort out the objects and puzzles. This was working nicely in terms of puzzle and game design. Regarding the style, the narrative and artistic aspect of the game required a more colourful look and I adapted the assets into this ‘cozy’ vibe. However, I have to admit that I’m still enthusiastic about the black and white - wiggly sketch style!

Grid system with some items drawn in black outline

An expanded grid system

Item style adapted to match the overall style of the game - Background art by Anna Ledovska

Prototype

At the end of the week, our international team had many tiny pieces that had to somehow work together into a game. It was hard to combine everyone’s work into a playable prototype. Mainly because of the language barriers, the time zone difference, availability of our team members and some health issues from our programmer-side. All those complications made it hard to put together a playable prototype in Unity. At the end, we got last minute help from a programmer that helped us to have something playable in just 4 hours! Thanks Uneeb!