Synopsis
This game is a seedling’s journey to find herself and her unique strength.
Our main protagonist, Sapp, is an adopted seedling in a family of plants. She looks nothing different from her siblings when they were seedlings, but while her siblings have already grown into shaggy bushes, Sapp remains a little seedling. Disheartened and forlorn, Sapp thinks herself a disgrace to the family.
Sapp confides her issue to Aspen the Elderly, who tells her about the legendary existence of the World Tree, the most ancient, wise tree that has answers for all the questions in the world of plants. Seeing a glimpse of hope, Sapp sets on a journey to find the World Tree.
The journey that promises the answer is never an easy one: Sapp encounters all kinds of puzzles and trials along the way. As the player works out these puzzles and finds ways out of these trials, Sapp braves her way through these challenges and learns from the various types of plants that she befriends. For example, after Sapp collects all the ingredients to make a nutrient potion for the sunflowers that were on the verge of dying, the sunflowers gift her with the special power of growing at double-speed under the sun. As she progresses on her journey, Sapp gradually becomes not only more powerful but also more kind and compassionate to creatures around her.
By the time Sapp finally comes to the World Tree, she has become more almighty and wise than any other plant. It turns out that she is a descendant of the World Tree, which takes longer time to grow into the best possible state. But of course, this answer no longer matters to her. Sapp has become the best of herself along the way. The journey to the answer turns out to be the answer that Sapp was looking for.
Characters
Sapp (Main Character)
Sapp is the main protagonist in Rooted: A Plant’s Tale. Sapp starts off as an underdog protagonist who is not able to grow and keep with other plants their age. Sapp leaves their hometown to embark on an adventure to discover what they’re destined to be.
Bushard (Brother/Sibling)
One of the main characters that Sapp is compared to, especially at the beginning of the game is their younger brother, Bushard. Bushard had an early growth spurt and sprouted as a bush plant. Growth is looked highly upon in this kingdom which causes their parents to play favoritism.
Soleil (?) (Buff Sunflower Mentor)
Soleil is a guild master that resides in a SunFlower themed town.
One of the main ways that Sapp grows as a plant is through mentorship and learning. As Sapp arrives at new settings and towns, Sapp meets guild masters and other characters that teach it new abilities. TBD teaches Sapp to hone in on photosynthesis and to use the power of the sun as mana for special attacks and movements.
Name TBD (Human Girl)
GOrl is a human girl who becomes lost in the forest and is trying to find her way back to her father. Sapp stumbles upon GoRL and takes it upon itself to accompany the girl as she retraces her steps back to her father’s cabin. Later on in the game, it is revealed that GOrL is the Lumberjack’s daughter.
Name TBD (Lumberjack)
The Lumberjack is the father of GOrl. Under the assumption that Sapp was the reason why GOrl went missing, the Lumberjack is at first hostile and attacks Sapp. The GOrl who was escorted by Sapp defends it and the Lumberjack then becomes a supporting character vowing to serve as a protector of the forest rather than a destroyer.
Name TBD (World/Wisdom Tree)
There is a folklore that in the heart of the forest stands the World Tree. The World Tree is the embodiment of all collective wisdom in the natural world, and is stated to be the last pillar of forgotten truths and ancient knowledge spanning the long ages of the world.
Sapp pursues the World Tree to find answers to its growth which becomes the ultimate objective of the game. In the end, the World Tree is not able to provide Sapp with an answer, as it is something that only Sapp can decide for themselves.
Audience
Ideally, we hope everyone is able to play and enjoy our game. Our focus on plants and a nature aesthetic, however, does point our direction towards a younger age group. Inherently, with the story of change and self acceptance that we’re trying to tell, we are aiming to target teens/young adults. We believe it’s a topical story for this demographic. But at its core, anyone can relate to this type of narrative, and thus we believe that’s where the appeal to the general audience lies.
Another noteworthy point is our general art direction, where we are utilizing pixel art. In this sense, the game is for more “casuals” as opposed to “hardcore” gamers. Imagine Stardew Valley meets Hollow Knight, in terms of target audience. There still exists the mass appeal, but it’s also much more relaxed for players.
Tone
Rooted: A Plant’s Tale is a game showing us the beauty and magic of nature. It seeks to evoke the same sense of curiosity and innocence that nature has continuously brought out of us, especially at a younger age. Ideally, we seek to primarily achieve this through our characters and setting.
The core feeling we wanted at the root of our entire game is whimsy. There is a sense of childlike innocence that we seek to invoke here. Through the cutesy animations of our central character, the lighter color palette, and overall theming of self-acceptance, the game should create warmth and comfortability. Working simultaneously with this innocence is the magic. The personification of plants is inherently working outside the realm of the normal. However, unlike gothic and druid images of nature, we want to recall the feelings of serendipity through our environments (the forests), and what lives in each place. Some initial inspirations include My Neighbor Totoro.
Secondly, we also wanted to focus on growth. The driving narrative force of our game is the question “Who am I?” While simple at face-value, we want to explore deeper themes of alienation (my ugly duckling) at an age of youth, and the journey involved in answering that question. At its heart, we want this thumping seek for fulfillment to serve as the lifeline that not only pushes the player to find out who our little seedling is, but to also plant the seeds of self-acceptance. This is most achieved through our narrative structure and how we choose to tell the story. As the player travels from place to place and gains bits and pieces of everyone they meet, seeking for communal validation, the story will finish off with “You are uniquely your own self”. Here, the execution of the journey to that ending will serve us best in achieving growth.
Lastly, our final focus strikes to find a lighthearted tone. It works in tandem with whimsy, but we want to create a strong enough lightened atmosphere that can work away from the magic. This will come through most noticeably from color palette, music, and character designs. We’re already reaching for a cute aesthetic with our early concept art in order to maintain this more casual mood. Never should the player be too stressed while playing our game. Instead, we want it to be a place for players to destress and immerse themselves in a world full of charming critters, placid plants, and all sorts.
Settings
Our narrative and tone bears a rather cozy feeling, which can contrast against the idea of growth since growth more often than not spurs from hard work and change. However, we believe that with the right people (or plants!) everywhere can feel like home and therefore cozy without sacrificing the need for change and newness in Sapp’s journey.
Our overarching theme with our setting revolves around nature. We imagine little Sapp running around different settings where diverse sets of plants can all thrive—giving our protagonist different mentors to interact with and grow from. Each environment lends itself to be a lesson for Sapp to take with her on her journey to find herself. From forests, marshes, streams, or mountainsides, Sapp has a lot to learn in her quest to grow into her (unknowingly) prophesied World Tree status.
We believe this is the best way to capture the whimsical nature of our game without inducing stress in terms of progression. This setting also lends itself to benefit aspects of gameplay which fit narratively as to the rules and bounds of the game.
Gameplay
Our core gameplay revolves around being a platformer. Sapp is limited to only what she knows, which dictates movement mechanics available to the player. Much of the information needed to proceed will only be given as hints. This leads to a specific dynamic where players will have to traverse and think about each space they enter. Many areas will require skills beyond what Sapp may know at a given point in time, but this comes without the feeling like they are hard locked and unexplorable. These choices and dynamics are intended to capture and drive the player’s innate desire to explore and remember where they’ve been so they know where they can or should go at each step of the way.
Since exploration and growth is a key component to our game, there will be lots of puzzles and interactable plants and objects for the player to experience. Some initial mechanics revolving around platforming concepts include:
- Plants which have different effects when watered (e.g. grow)
- Surfaces which Sapp can swing from
- Light combat systems
- Gliding/Flying
- Energy system for using skills (e.g. gliding)
We wanted to keep combat light to retain the overall tone of the game. However, plants have to protect themselves too at times! Other gameplay such as puzzles will also be diverse. Examples include:
- Minigames (e.g. “Red Light, Green Light”)
- Riddles
- Collectable objects around the world
- Collectable objects within a level
Each level and puzzle will be thoughtfully designed and matched to the setting (as well as NPC if an NPC is dictating a puzzle or level). The goal is to build these spaces and characters that feel recognizable and each like their own unique home and lesson to Sapp.
Key Challenges for Design
Number of NPC’s and Interactive Elements: Having the seedling interact with the world around it is a major component of our game. However, there is a significant danger to having overwhelming and underwhelming interactions, which directly influence player engagement. To ensure that these interactions do not become overwhelming, striking a balance between quantity and quality of interaction becomes key in keeping players immersed in our game world. This is equally important when considering the narrative depth we plan to take, as these NPCs and interactions will shape the stories that players will grapple with while playing the game.
Puzzle Design: In our game world, puzzles act as levels that the seedling Sapp has to overcome in order to grow. For the player, these puzzles are cognitive challenges that stimulate problem-solving, critical thinking abilities and a drive to master the physical mechanics of the game. As such, a major challenge we must overcome is how we can create puzzles that are well-designed and varied while also maintaining the overall thematic elements of our game. To ensure the quality of our puzzles while we design the game, we will rely on playtesting and feedback from real players.
Conveying Tones and Themes: The overall mood and atmosphere of the game will be dictated by tones and themes that are set throughout the game. Consistent tones and well-executed interactions that convey the themes of the game will create a much more cohesive world and maintain narrative clarity. By effectively conveying these tones and themes, we would be able to ensure the narrative aligns with the intended theme. However, consistency is hard to design for as it only takes one unaligned scene or interaction to throw the player out of the game’s magic circle. As such, it is important to make sure to test various versions of narratives for the games with playtesters to see which storyline makes the most sense in terms of clarity, cohesion, and consistency in tones and themes.
Key Challenges for Tech
Limited experience in Game Development: A major challenge for us as a team is that we have very limited experience with game development and with Unity. As Unity has a decently steep learning curve, addressing this challenge involves searching for resources and tutorials to become familiar with Unity’s interface and tools. This will likely lead to increased gameplay issues from bugs or glitches. To combat this, we plan to conduct thorough testing, either by playing the game ourselves or to have playtesters test the digital game themselves.
Movement Mechanics: As we plan to create a 2D platformer RPG for our game, movement mechanics will play a crucial role in shaping how the gameplay feels. Intuitive movement controls are crucial for creating an engaging and immersive experience for players as they traverse through the levels of our game. To ensure the quality of our movement mechanics, we will iterate on designing and testing to ensure that inputs are balanced and responsive for players. Incorporating this player feedback through playtesting sessions will identify areas for improvement and iteratively fine-tune the movement in our game.
Map creation: As we have limited experience with game development and Unity, another challenge that arises is developing custom level and map designs within the game engine. This is significant as our entire game depends on the types of levels we are able to design and the quality of our designs. Because of this, we are looking into pre-existing assets such as sprites and textures to speed up our map design. In addition, we are looking into developing custom level editors and tools with Unity to efficiently build maps within the game engine. These tools will allow us to abstract away some parts of programming in game development and include drag-and-drop functionality as well as scripting support, allowing us to iterate rapidly to experiment with a variety of layouts.
Key Challenges for Art
Working with Pixel Art: In some senses, working with pixel art is quite nice as it allows for quick drawing iterations of character designs as there are only so many pixels we can color in. However, this limits the resolution of our characters and the depth in which we can convey who they are. These technical constraints will require much more attention to detail to ensure animations continue to be expressive and visually appealing while also being quick to iterate upon.
Consistency: Creating and finding art assets that align with the game’s themes and tones requires lots of exploration and visual research. Because we are somewhat relying on outside assets to build our game, we must ensure that these assets not only fit with the theme of our game, but also with each other to maintain consistency and cohesion across art styles. Ensuring that these assets blend seamlessly with the visual style and narrative will be a challenge to find, but will ultimately enhance the player experience.
