November 2022
Featured in the Queer Games Bundle 2023!
The Challenge
After releasing Act 2 of the series, I was immediately motivated to continue work on the final act of Dror’s coming-of-age tale. I won’t lie, it was hard sometimes to keep working on what I knew would be the final part of this story. There was a lot of pressure in creating the closing act of a story that represents the aromantic and queer community. But I realized that experiences are personal, and that the best product that I could make would be the most honest and authentic. As long as I could siphon my passion for my identity inside the dialogue and gameplay, then the end would turn out all right.
Outline of Themes
Pre-production Mechanics (1)
Pre-production Mechanics (2)
Sketch of the original map
The Solution
When designing what the gameplay of the final act would look like, I had to look back at what the other two games accomplished. In Act 1, the central game loop of farming flowers represented blossoming into the new, better version of you. In Act 2, fish and the ocean were used as metaphors for going with the flow and trusting one’s intuition. For the final act, I had written a phrase down very early on in the design process that stuck with me: “Just as the sun rises and sets, so does the MOON.” I wanted this game to represent acceptance; not only that of your own identity but of the natural processes of the world around you. With this concept in mind, I decided to make hunting the main game mechanic in Act 3. It feels strange at first-why would a society built around praising nature want to kill animals? But therein comes the central theme of Act 3: the natural cycle of life and death. The people of the Jalinne botan believe that by hunting animals, they are freeing their spirits from the horrors of this world.
As always, the best part of creating this game was writing for it. As in prior games, transcendentalist imagery and metaphors were used to further enhance the emotional stories of characters. And, (spoilers!) writing the end-game plot twist was exhilarating. I felt a lot of pressure in making sure that the plot twist made sense, and yet was not obvious from the onset. I think that the finale does a good job responding to the ways I’ve felt troubled with my aromantic and gay identity - feelings of being unwelcome to society and being a “monster.”
Harsh, yet real words
Project Willow
Finding Ambriose's diary in his lab
Hunter's Lodge
The Story
Dror's search for his friends and personal identity comes to an end at the University of Jalinne in a hunter's haven. After Ansel's disappearance, Dror is left on his own to uncover the secrets of the University and the central government power known as MOON. Being so close to finally creating a gateway between realms, is it even certain that Dror will be able to find his friends on the other side, or is he too late? This grand finale uncovers the secrets of the world of Pastoral, culminating into a thrilling climax and plot twist that speaks to all queer identities, especially those on the aromantic and asexual spectrum.
The Tools
Adobe Photoshop: used to make all game assets, including sprites and backgrounds
Tiled: used to combine sprites made in Photoshop to make backgrounds
GB Studio: used to make the game
All in-game music was written by me.