Team Members: Violet Crow, Hunaida Elhassan, Shane Adam, Mayowa Adesina, Fiona Han

Plot Synopsis:

Myopus is a species of lemming living deep in the Finnish forests. They survive on moss and live for less than a year, making every moment of their brief lives precious. Although their lifespan is short compared to ours, this story follows one myopus whose life has already been full of beauty: being born in a litter of eleven, growing up among the mossy shelter of the forest, and finding a true love to share that fragile life with.

The story begins on a melancholic note when the myopus’s partner falls gravely ill. Their only hope is the Golden Moss, a rare healing moss once known to grow beyond the familiar parts of the forest. Driven by love and desperation, the myopus leaves home and travels into unknown territory, knowing that time is not on their side. The journey becomes both physical and emotional, shaped by fear, anguish, and the hope that they might return before it is too late.

As the myopus moves farther from home, the forest begins to change. The soft, living world they know gives way to damaged land, disappearing moss, broken habitats, and empty spaces where shelter once existed. The story reveals the effects of human-caused environmental destruction on small, vulnerable lives, showing how forces beyond the myopus’s control have made survival even more difficult. Still, the myopus continues forward with resilience, motivated by love and the possibility of saving their partner.

The journey ultimately leads to the place where the Golden Moss once grew in abundance. But instead of a hidden, glowing patch of forest, the myopus finds that the land has recently been cleared and replaced by a Walmart and a parking lot. This ending grounds the story’s sadness in a familiar human reality, emphasizing what is lost when natural environments are destroyed before the lives depending on them are even noticed.

Setting:

True to the myopus’ real life habitat, the game takes place in the Finnish forests. The gameplay begins in its den under the base of a tree and its sick partner laying in bed. Moving outside, we get the first view of a dewy Finnish forest in the summer time. Beyond it, there are hostile animals that injure us, friendly animals that guide us, and obstacles that require certain items to overcome. Now our Myopus must journey beyond the familiarity of the forest to find the Golden Moss that humans have hoarded to cure its partner before time runs out.

Tone & References:

Our game is about exploring the unknown. We want our players to put themselves in the myopus’ shoes while searching for the Golden Moss.

The emotions we want to convey are:

Determination
Worry/Fear
Desperation
Grief
Hope/Optimism
Anguish
Inadequacy/Doubt
Wonder

Fear:

The player should feel fear from the changing surroundings and stress about finding the Golden Moss. The pressure of finding it in time only adds to the stress and worry.

Hope:

Even though the journey looks bleak, the player should be driven by motivation and hopeful that they will successfully collect the Golden Moss. Optimism is what carries the player forward and helps them persevere past their feelings of doubt and desperation

Anguish:

When the game ends, the player finds that the myopus’ beloved home has been destroyed by humans. The entire journey seems to have been for nothing, invoking feelings of anguish and despair.

References:

We are referencing and taking inspiration from the following works/sources:

Rusty Lake
Putt Putt
Monkey Island
Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Ratatouille
Moss
Rain World
ZORK
The Tale of Despereaux
Up
The Hobbit (‘70s animated adaptation)

Gameplay:

Our game is a point-and-click adventure game in the tradition of titles from the 1990s such as the Monkey Island and Putt-Putt series. The player interacts with the game world exclusively via the use of their mouse cursor. We have yet to determine whether the game will be entirely POV (the player does not see the myopus on screen, but rather, the screen shows what the myopus is seeing from its perspective) or if the player character will be present on screen. In either case, moving the mouse over elements on the screen (items, characters, locations) should produce a signal to the player that those elements are interactable, and clicking will cause the appropriate action to occur. Clicking on a character, for instance, may activate a conversation with them, while clicking on a door may open it, and clicking on a bush may rustle it. Clicking on small items which are able to be picked up (such as twigs or berries) will add them to the player’s inventory, which is displayed on-screen. When the player clicks on an item stored in their inventory, the item will become attached to the hand/cursor. At that time, clicking again on the screen will attempt to “use” that item in the location that is clicked. This is a conventional interaction style for point and click games. Puzzles in the game will largely revolve around finding or creating the appropriate item to interact with something on the screen to achieve the player’s goal. As an example, the player may come across a door they need to enter. Clicking on the door may rattle it to indicate that it’s locked. The player must then investigate their surroundings until they locate a key, which is added to their inventory upon clicking. The player can then return to the locked door, click on the key in their inventory, and with it attached, click again on the door to use the key, unlocking it. A used item may or may not be returned to the player’s inventory, depending on context. While the majority of gameplay revolves around these mechanics (clicking to interact, collecting and using items), it is possible that we may incorporate small mini-games with different interfaces should it seem appropriate for some type of puzzle.

Key Challenges:

The key challenges of this game occur in a few areas.

Gameplay Design Challenges

Many players, particularly those who were not alive during the heyday of point and click adventure games in the 1990s, may find the mechanics and style of interaction to be foreign to them, as it is not a very popular genre of game in the current gaming landscape. It is essential that we introduce the player to these mechanics in a simple, inviting, and instructional way, so that they do not turn the game off as a result of becoming immediately frustrated or confused. Additionally, all of the puzzles in the game should walk a fine line of being clever, but without connections that are too vague for players to realize. It is okay to rely on players to understand that you need a key to open a door, but we must avoid making things too obscure.

Art Challenges

In a point-and-click adventure game, screens are often drawn individually. Rather than the environment being one continuous screen that the player moves across in 2D, or a 3D sculpted environment, our game will likely need to use a large number of unique, drawn environments. It is important that these are legible to the player, and done in such a way that the elements to be interacted with are clearly represented.

Technical Challenges

The members of our group working on implementing the game digitally have never developed digital games before (let alone of this style). The primary engine used to develop this style of game is not available on Mac, which is what they use, so Unity will be used instead. It will be technically challenging to implement a game like this, and will likely require a lot of iteration, trial-and-error, and research.

Target Audience:

Formerly, we are targeting this game towards general audiences, but really we want this game to be played by people with proclivities towards empathy and care towards the games they play. Our aim with this game is to have players feel fear, desperation, and inadequacy and be able to use these feelings as a means of relating to the woodlands creatures they will be playing as and interacting with throughout the game. Our game has a throughline of human intervention in the environment, and it is something that affects the narrative all the way from the inciting incident, to the final twist of the game. This game is for players who are not afraid to be challenged on their impacts on the environment as humans, and we aim to raise awareness for the consequences of rapid human development for our players.