Game Name: The Shadows Within

Essential Experience:  I want my players to feel a sense of purpose, fulfillment, and connection to nature as they strive to find a new home for their collective. It’s important that players work to improve the game world for themselves, carrying the lessons learned into the real world.

Pitch: In this distant fantasy world, you play as a shadow hivemind that has been torn from its home, which was destroyed by the encroaching human kingdoms. After finding a tattered cloak in a woodworking shop, you embark on a journey to reunite with the rest of your kind while seeking a new refuge, solving puzzles and exploring a rich, vibrant world along the way.

Story Synopsis:  This magical fantasy world features a hivemind collective that is uprooted from its serene forest home by the growing industrial activities of human populations. Human forces scatter the hivemind across the continent. Determined to piece itself back together, the hivemind sets off on a quest to reunite and find a new, peaceful place to settle.

Overview: This third-person puzzle platformer challenges players to navigate a simply designed world in search of their lost companions, who have hidden themselves away for safety. Players must utilize light, interact with NPCs, and employ a variety of traversal options to explore the environment and achieve their goals. The game’s narrative highlights the consequences of humanity’s negligence, impacting not just wildlife but also human existence. As players approach the end of the game, these themes will become increasingly direct, culminating in a confrontation with humanity’s greed, which will serve as the key to solving the final puzzle and completing the game.

Beath Chart Example:

Level	1- From the forest	2- into the city
Time	early morning – end of day	early morning
Story	Cutscene sets up the core of the plot, with the sprites being taken from their home. Player spends a whole ‘day’ just traversing around the same level understanding the controls. Ends the level with finding another sprite and the ‘cloak’.	Player dons iconic cloack with 2 sprites present, slowly bobbling out the workshop, the player is shocked by the sheer number of people around, using this chance to slip away they spot a sprite in the distance which they proceed to head towards.
Progression	Player is taught basic movement controlls and how they can interact with objects shadows to move through a level. Player is also introduced to core puzzle ideas and attention meter mechanic.	Player is introduced to cloack movement and how to traverse the levels as cloak and spites and how the 2 interact with the envrionment. Sprites can’t change the environment, but cloak can.
Play time	5 mins	10 mins
Colour Scheme	starting bright in cutscene to monochrome, eventually regaining colour in the latar stages of the level.	Bright colou, vibrant fantasy city landscape
Enemies	1 basic enemy to introduce attention meter	8 scattered towards the latter half of the level as the sprite begins to enter the inner city.
Mechanics present	attention meter, exploration, puzzle	Cloak movement, attention meter, puzzle solving, object movement
Hazards	enemy attention meter	attention meter, pit falls
Required Sprites	1	3
Secret Sprites	0	2
Audio Landscape	Attention meter audio cue, sprite present audio cue	Attention meter audio cue, sprite present audio cue, Cloak swap trigger cue, loud bustling city audio

Unique Selling Point: The fate of these sprites are at stake and the player should have some drive to save them and return them to their home. As well as being able to explore a unique fantasy landscape and a far wider range of unique puzzles.

Target Audience: 7+ . I feellike puzzle platformers are enjoyed by a wide range of people. An approaching art style and quick to grasp mechanics encourage young children to get their hands on the game, conversly, unqiue mechanics and interactive complex puzzles can reward more intelligent/more mature players of the game with secret sprites!

Genre: Fantasy, Puzzle-Platformer

Platform: PC, Console

PC Minimum Requirements:

• OS: Windows 10
• Processor: Intel i5 Quad-Core, 2.7 GHz
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: GTX 660 / RX 460
• Storage: 2 GB available space
• Additional Notes: Gamepad or Controller Recommended.