Game Design: Wordplay

Play the Game Here!

About:                                                                                                                My Role:                         What I learned:
An adventure puzzle game in which the player assumes the role                       Creative Director           The challenges of puzzle game design

of an apprentice word wizard. As the apprentice, the player possesses              Artist                              Illustrator

spells that rearrange letters in a word, split compound words, and 

switch the first letters of two words. Armed with these spells and 

accompanied by a highly opinionated narrator, the player ventures 

forth into the realm of fairy tales to search for his missing master, 

Wizard Volker the Grand Keeper of Fairy Tales, who has fallen prey 

to the evil witch Wilhelmina. As they travel, the player gathers the 

tools to correct the fairy tales that have gone awry.

The Splitting Mechanic: making water and a melon by splitting the watermelon

The Switch Mechanic: Switching the first letter of pool and wig to make wool and the 3rd little pig.

 

The Rearrange mechanic: Rearranging hose to shoe

as well as splitting nightgown into night and gown so that Cinderella will give the player the key to the next area.

New 'spells' were gained with scrolls.

Death was possible, but humorous: For example if the player split a dragon fly it would make a fly and an unfortunately hungry dragon, similarly splitting a sunflower made a flower and the sun...

In keeping with the theme of fairytales, the player visited such characters as Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, the Little Mermaid, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, the Pied Piper, and Aladdin.

 

 

Did you know you can rearrange canoe into ocean?

This was one of my favorite puzzles because of the effect the ocean (or lack thereof) had on the next area.

Eventually the player made it though the areas to the final battle with the witch that had kidnapped his master.

If the player had successfully fixed all the tales, and saved the witch instead of destroying her, then they would see a very populated screen at the end. If not, the wizard would thank them for saving him, but tell them they had more work to do before they could be a true word-wizard.