Initial Idea
Finding Astraios – You awaken in an empty spaceship that is drifting in space towards an unknown location. Gather clues around the ship to uncover your past and what is to come. These clues could come in the form of mini games, had the idea of small games in a bigger one. Games could also symbolize a way of getting rid of boredom, loneliness or even adding to a serene feeling. The aim was to use all three aspects in the game and allow the player to interpret their own theme.
First Development
I changed the name on all pages to not confuse anyone but this game concept was originally named ‘alone in space’. However since I was giving more thought towards the concept and meaning behind the game I decided to change the name and also slightly change the concept of the game. Instead of going for the three themes, boredom, loneliness and serene, I decided to go for a philosophical hidden meaning which will be hinted through out the game.
The game now is also a space journey to find Astraios, the god of stars and planets, and ask what is your meaning/ purpose. In this journey nihilism and existentialism will be hinted, for the big reveal at the end which is that Astraios doesn’t exist. This would lead to the realisation of no inherent meaning to life. However through the various hints of philosophy the player will be tempted to choose either nihilism which is to come to terms with the fact that there is no meaning. Or existentialism a believe that there is no meaning to life but it is possible to pursuit meaning an ultimately create your own meaning.
Developed ‘Finding Astraios’
Ive had another change of mind on my game ‘Finding Astraios’, whilst doing research on other games like nier automata which also hint the theme of nihilism, I realised that it was not so obviously displayed. I originally had the thought of centring the whole game about finding meaning, but now it seems too boring and forced.
I changed the journey to find Atraios the god of stars and planets to a journey about finding a planet called Astraios.
After some brainstorming I had come up with two ideas all centred around a time loop involving a black hole, this time loop is a trap where you will eventually die. However that is not the end, after dying you would reset to the start where you first entered the loop.
From this, two different games can come from it: Escaping the time loop, Embracing the loop.
Escaping the loop
The objective of the game would be to break out of the time loop, which would make it a quest for survival and exploration. Allowing the player to proceed on the journey to find Astraios. The ending would come back to the time loop where the player would supposedly learn a lesson from the loop.
Embracing the loop
The focus of the player’s journey is embracing the loop and discovering meaning or comprehension inside it, rather than breaking out. Through each loop the player learns more about the character as it finds clues around the ship activating flashbacks. These flashbacks show why you are looking for Astraios and other past memories. Eventually the player realises that there is more than just a time loop.