Kelan's Puzzle: Video game design

Kelan's Puzzle

Puzzle-Adventure Video Game Design

Graduation Degree Project | National Institute of Design Assam | 2023

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SOFTWARES: UNREAL ENGINE 5, AUTODESK 3DS MAX, SUBSTANCE PAINTER, NOMAD SCULPT, PROCREATE

(Project in progress. Will be updated constantly)

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Can video games be an effective medium of communication to discuss and raise awareness about themes of anxiety?

Kelan’s Puzzle introduces a new puzzle mechanic involving the strategic movement of pieces or ‘tokens’ across a fixed geometric pattern. Player decides movement of three distinct tokens different in shape and color.

Overview of the game

Game Narrative

The game's narrative primarily consists of two timelines: the present timeline, in which the player engages with the game, and a past timeline set in the year 1500 CE. In 1500 CE, a wealthy and influential diplomat owned a large house in the Malabar region of Kerala during the Portuguese colonial era. He resided there with his wife and child, living a perilous life while maintaining delicate relationships between the Portuguese colonial administration and the native inhabitants of the region. His top priority was the safety of his family, so he kept the dangers of his work far from his home. Consequently, he was often absent from both his wife and child's lives. The diplomat's wife struggled to raise their child on her own, frequently plagued by anxiety
about her husband's safety and the day-to-day challenges. Arguments were common between the diplomat and his wife, and their child, Kelan, had to endure the unhealthy tension within his family.

The game, 'Kelan's Puzzle,' depicts these family dilemmas from the perspective of the child, Kelan. These social dilemmas are encoded in the form of puzzles that the protagonist must solve to progress in the game. The game's protagonist is a distant descendant of Kelan and inherits some of his possessions as heirlooms. One day, during a move between houses, the protagonist stumbles upon Kelan's heirloom in the attic: a sealed chest. Inside, the protagonist discovers a map and a key leading to the diplomat's house. The game unfolds as the protagonist embarks on a journey to the diplomat's house, uncovering the mysterious puzzles created by Kelan centuries ago. Through solving these puzzles, the story of Kelan and the fate of his family slowly unfolds.

Each puzzle level symbolically represents social dilemmas faced by the three family members from the Kid’s point of view. Physically, the puzzle consists of interconnected tracks forming a symmetric pattern within a dodecagonal boundary. These tracks create a path for mechanized movement of tokens placed upon them. Players are tasked with solving 12 levels of the puzzle by interacting with it and controlling the token movements. Players can do this by clicking/activating the Activation Points presented on each levels which pulls tokens towards it. Therefore the core mechanic of the game involves deciding the order of clicking activation points/ buttons presented in each level.

Game Storyboards

The Diplomat's House: Map location and House sketch. The style is inspired from the times of 1500 CE Portuguese Era

Puzzle Mechanics

The tokens align to form triangles. The father and mother token moves towards the activation point selected by the player if they align in a straight line without any obstacles. Tokens can move in any straight line including the boundary of the puzzle pattern. Both the Father and Mother tokens have similar movement patterns, with priority given to the Father token. The Kid token, however, follows a unique and flexible movement pattern, always attempting to create a closely-knit triangle between the parent tokens.