Kyle Trottier’s Game Design and Concept Sketch

Player Objectives

  • The player will need to navigate through the different rooms of the castle searching for key fragments to unlock the final tower and find the sword and horn.
  • Also hidden across the rooms are other mice that need to know it is safe to leave their hiding spot which they may can optionally look for
  • Once the player finds the sword and horn they can use the horn to summon Max the cat as the final boss and once defeated save Cadbury’s mice friends and family.

Game Mechanics

  • Basic sword (and possibly shield) combat to fight various enemies throughout the rooms, as well as the boss fights.
  • Platforming mechanics to navigate the castle rooms to allow the player to reach high and far away places.
    • The player may find upgrades to their movement including boots that allow for double jumps and a cloak that allows the player to glide across gaps

Characters and Key Objects

  • Player
    • Cadbury – The protagonist tasked with finding the sword and horn and saving his fellow mice from Max.  Equipped with a toothpick as his weapon until he finds his sword.
  • Enemies
    • Max the Malicious – The fierce cat terrorizing the mice, whom Cadbury is tasked with defeating and acts as the final boss
    • Various Enemies – Dust Bunnies, Cat Toys, Rats, Smaller Cats(to act as other bosses).
  • Key Objects
    • Key Fragments – Fragments of a lost key Cadbury needs to find to unlock the tower and find the sword and horn.
    • Sword and Horn – Upgrades to Cadbury’s starting gear that he needs in order to defeat Max.
    • Boots and Cloak – Upgrades to Cadbury’s movement abilities which allow him to double jump and glide respectivley

Game World

  • With the decline of the black plague the Queen of a nearby castle feared the mice inside her castle walls may carry the plague as the rats had done previously.  With this in mind she added more cats to roam her castle so they could catch mice as well as the plague ridden rats.  However the mice did not carry the plague as the queen suspected and the mice that lived were scared for their lives especially since Max the Malicious was brought in.  Max had killed more mice than any other cat and only hunted the mice for he was to noble and did not want to go near a plague rat, and knew they did not carry the plague.  With all the mice hiding for their lives it was up to Cadbury, who lost his wife Guinevere to Max, to look for the lost feline sword the mice of old held to fight off the cats.  Yet the sword was locked away by Max and the Queen, and the key was broken into pieces, and spread across the castle by Max.  With this knowledge Cadbury went searching the castle for the key fragments with the idea of putting it back together, getting the sword, using the accompanying horn to call Max, and slaying him.
  • The game will take place within the castle and the player will need to navigate through the various castle rooms (Kitchen, Bedroom, Hallway, Library, Tower, etc.) Looking for hiding mice and the pieces of the key fragments.

Gameplay Highlights/Hooks/Features

  • Simple yet difficult platforming to reward players for reaching the key fragments giving them a sense of accomplishment for each one collected.
  • Interesting fighting to shake up platforming sections to keep the player engaged.

Intended Audience and How You Will Appeal to it

  • The game is intended for people who are fans of 3D platformers as the player needs to navigate through levels and be able to reach far away places.  It would also appeal to fans of adventure games as the player would need to figure out how to reach and find the key fragments and hidden mice within the different rooms.

Game Style/Player Experience

  • The game will be similar to platformers found on the N64 in terms of platforming, so players would expect a similar experience to those, but in a darker and slightly less colorful setting. It will also have a more fleshed out combat system so platforming will not be the only mechanic within the game.  Cadbury is also a mouse so a cat is a much larger foe, and as such are much harder opponents so their encounters should be difficult yet rewarding for the player to defeat.

Concept Art

2 Comments Add yours

  1. Sounds like an achievable concept that is appropriately scoped for the course.

  2. Aaron Graham says:

    I think a collectathon type game works very well for the area and themes the original story provided us with. I really like the focus you brought to combat as well, since most collectathon combat boils down to jumping on or just punching an enemy. I like the idea of maybe having some level of skill employed in combat with the use of the shield and sword instead of just offensive attacks.

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