Puzzle Idea Development

In our vertical slice, the player will experience just two of the six regions of the game Anima Mundi. These will be the air and fire regions. At the beginning of the gameplay, the player will have access to the boulder throw ability that they will need to solve puzzles in order to get to the guardian air spirit and then pass into the fire region. Therefore, we need to develop a series of puzzles that involve the boulder throw ability.

Firstly to introduce the ability, I think that there should be a very simple obstacle in the players path that they cannot overcome without the boulder throw. This could be as simple as putting a boulder down in order to climb onto it and get up to a higher elevation.

I have spent some time looking at movies such as Indiana jones and The Mummy which both feature traditional environment puzzles and traps. These movies are quite well known and the famous scene from Raiders of The Lost Ark where Indiana Jones runs from a giant rolling boulder is somewhat iconic. Simple interactions such as this would be perfect to introduce the ability and showcase the theme of the game.

Throughout the players journey through the air region, I think it would be best for the player to overcome a couple of simple obstacle puzzles before they are faced with a more complicated one. These simple puzzles would only involve one or two interactions or actions. I do not want to overcomplicate the vertical slice but I think its best to include more action instead of having them just wonder through an open world. To support this, there should also be simple elements that the player must jump over or climb under to keep them engaged and immersed in the game.

Above is a short clip that I have taken from Sumeru. It is a 2D physics game, available on steam, that involves the player having to use different elements such as water and sand to interact with parts of the game world in order to solve obstacle puzzles and progress. This clip shows a simple interaction where the player must place sand on one side of a lever system to clear a path. This lever mechanic is worth considering for puzzles in Anima Mundi. It could involve using the boulder ability to weigh down a system, either clearing a path or providing an alternative route to progress (climbing over something etc.).

Other games with physics puzzles to look at:

- Lara Croft Go

- Tomb Raider

- Fire boy and Water girl

- Prince of Persia

- Japanese puzzle boxes

Simple puzzle interactions:

- Pressure plate: the player would either have to stand on it or place a boulder onto it

- Pulley system: use the weight of a boulder to move another object up or down

- Lever system: to clear a path or move an object

- Roll a boulder down an incline to destroy something

- Filling an area with water to reach a higher elevation

- Jumping between platforms

- Climbing under or over obstacles

The main themes of the game are spirituality surrounding Japan and puzzle solving and it is based. As the Shaman, the player is taken on a journey into the spiritual world where their character will experience self-discovery and enlightenment.

Japan has two major religions; Buddhism and Shinto. Shinto is the basis of Japanese spirituality and considered the country's indigenous religion. It is concerned with living in harmony with nature and living creatures. Shamanism is a religious practice that involves interacting with a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, in order to direct these spirits or spiritual energies into the physical world, for healing or another purpose.

I think it would be interesting to somehow include famous Japanese puzzle design in the development of our own environment puzzles. These puzzles involve sliding, pulling, pulling, moving different parts of the box exterior around until something budges. Each step has to be done in the right order to solve the puzzle.

Rube Goldberg machines are chain-reaction contraptions designed to complete a simple task in an over-complicated way. This would be great to incorporate into the game, getting the player to interact with different elements in a particular order to complete a chain-reaction that would overcome a simple obstacle.