Finding the Heart & Sould of Your Game

Shout out to @zackavelli of the Game Dev Field Guide podcast.

A few days ago, I listened to an episode about Finding the Heart and Sould of a Game.

This was something I struggled with in the previos versions of my game. It had several good elements, but overall, it felt shallow.  Lacked heart & soul.

The episode taks about four concepts:

1. Identity
2. Charm
3. Imperfection
4. Attention to details

Long story short, shortly after a lot of pieces fell into place for me.

Previously, the game was called Glide Arcade and featured a paragliding ninja in the Bavarian Alps collecting ... gems without end or purpose.

Now the game is called Panda & Crow: 7 Days Euope?!

Main character Panda had promised his best friend Crow to go and see all of Europe, but now corporate only gave him seven days of vacation. So they need to rush between sites to collect selfies (and memories) before time runs out.

• Instead of an unnamed ninja, we have relatable characters now.
• Instead of gems spawning in random locations, the key sites are hand-crafted locations on the map (like Neuschwanstein).
• Game notifications are now suggestions made by Crow.
• The selfie theme lends itself to some nice aspects of product-led growth (sharable content) & monetization via cosmetic in-app purchases.
• Instead of a giant red arrow pointing the way, companion Crow can lead the way.
• I have a clear roadmap for additional content (locations & sites).

The good part is that it didn't take all that many changes. Two days in I'm mostly finished. Most notably, the actual models for Panda & Crow are still missing from the game.  😅

Play version 0.4 now and let me know what you think.