Tower of Babblers

Tower of Babblers is a project that I designed for the Jay is Games Game Design Competition #2. One of the principles of this contest is that you have to make a game with little to no instructions - a game which is a puzzle in and of itself, so you have to work with what's around you to figure it out. Also, keyboard input is frowned upon - just point and click, one button.

Having learned several lessons from The Alchemist's Apprentice, I wanted to try something new. Here was what I kept hearing about Apprentice:

The Bad:

It was obnoxiously hard to figure out
It didn't have a satisfying ending
It would have been much cooler with more than one level

The Good:

It was a very creative idea
The alchemy system was innovative and very neat
The randomization gave good replay value
The art style and humour was great

As always, my edge in this sort of thing is production values, as I am an artist as well as a programmer and designer. However, the last game showed that I needed to hone my design skills. Therefore, I came up with a completely new idea for this competition.

What to keep from Apprentice:

Randomization of the puzzle in some fashion
Captivating art style and humor

New stuff:

Try a different art style, in this case, sprite art. This tutorial on characters was very helpful in particular.
Add captivating and interesting music. Music really makes the game. Megan helped me out with this a LOT . Her music is superb!
Make the puzzle easier
Add levels that build off of the puzzles premise, so once you've "figured it out", there's still a challenge.
Add a satisfying ending. (Megan's music really helped here).

There might be some spoilers from here on out, so go play the game before venturing forth...

In the end, I was very proud with the result. Megan was a big help and a great source of support.

As I'm trilingual, I liked the idea of using language in the game somehow, and the result greatly pleased me, especially after I sped all the voices up by 50%. Much thanks to my roommate Larry Laugesen, as he has a more interesting English voice than I do and is the voice of the Red Babblers in the game. I am the voice of the Yellow and Blue babblers.

Also, I wanted to venture into the unsure territory of religiously-themed video games. I'm an Eastern Orthodox Christian, but I used to be an Evangelical, and when I still traveled in those circles I was distressed by how much Christian art in the Modern West just... sucks! It's like everyone's forgotten about the age of the Byzantine empire and, in the West - Hello? The Renaissance? It's like Religious art can't be made anymore unless it's smarmy, condescending, and/or crude.

Tower of Babblers obviously is heavily inspired by the story of the Tower of Babel. I was also inspired, as always, by Lemmings, and liked the idea of only being able to indirectly controlling the game characters. So in Tower of Babblers, there are only two things you can do: click on a block to deploy a new Babbler, or click on a Babbler to change its language.

Also, if you build too high, the Hand of God will smite the offending tower, and then change the language of every Babbler on the screen randomly, leading to confusion amongst the ranks. There's a bit of subtle commentary, as the Hand of God never by itself kills a Babbler - the only thing that ever kills a Babbler is another Babbler forcing it off the level. Not that I am suggesting that the Christian God is always a God of peace and is above taking Human Life when he wills - but to point out that the majority of the killing and suffering that goes on here on Earth lies completely within man's sphere of responsibility. I'm sure there are those that disagree with me, but I suppose that statement is synonymous with saying that I happen to believe in any particular thing :P

So, it's a simple game and I'm sure that this and the other spiritual messages I've built into it will be lost on the majority of the crowd, but in the end I find I'm much better at being a subtle teacher than a beat-you-over-the-head-with-my-premise teacher. Nobody wants to listen when you're shouting at them, and so to those who just want to play a quirky, fun, and beautiful game, I sincerely hope the Lord has granted me the skills to provide such an experience. And to those who want something more out of it - I pray that I have provided that as well. Enjoy the game and God Bless!

Kristus er Oppstanden!

Play Tower of Babblers

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