Moodboard
The three emotions I want to invoke is: Thrill, Anxiety, Pride
Direction 1 – Platformer
The player advances through the game by completing platforming challenges across four levels; Stanford’s steam tunnels, Hoover Tower, the foothills cave, and Cal’s stadium. Each new level introduces a faster or trickier enemy type (admin, Cal football players, campus security, etc), keeping the player on their toes at all times. The story is paced by movement: new information and lore unlocks only after clearing each screen, so the platforming itself drives the narrative forward.
Direction 2 – Environmental storytelling
The story is told through the world rather than cutscenes or dialogue (minimal dialogue). Graffition tunnel walls, torn notes from the Immortal 21 are scattered in the foothills cave, and the view from Hoover Tower shows the players whats ahead. The player pieces together the history of the Big Game Axe through what they find as they move.
Direction 3 – Increase in Intensity
The game is paced to build from low stakes to high. The steam tunnels feel quiet and exploratory. The foothills cave is isolating and eerie. The final level should feel genuinely hard-won, so that the “Go Card.” end screen lands as a release of everything that built up before it. Gives the player that satisfactory feeling.
Images generated with OpenAI
