Exploring Elaria

https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/2406d8_ce27edfe47b249289640a353175f773b.m4a

Okay, so for this class, I had to come up with a game idea and actually prototype it, which was kinda intimidating at first because I’ve never done anything like this. But once I got into it, I really loved the idea of mixing storytelling with puzzles, and that’s how Exploring Elaria came to life.

Genre & Who It’s For

Echoes of Elaria is a chill, narrative puzzle-adventure game. It’s more for people who are into emotional storytelling and solo gameplay: kind of like Journey, The Witness, or Gris. It fits into the indie game world, and I’d say it’s aimed at people aged around 16 to 30 who love exploring beautiful worlds and piecing together stories on their own.

Theme

I wanted my game to have a meaning behind it. I know that games are just meant for fun, but if I can make a difference to someone's day or make them just feel better then thats a win for me. My 15 year old cousin has Asperger's and is a huge gaming man. I asked him what he thought of my game and even though he is used to killing and blood, he really liked the idea and he said the thought of it was comforting, not because of the whole grief exploration but just the healing side of it.

Although the game is about grief and healing but in a really peaceful, visual way. You play as a silent character wandering through these floating islands that change based on your emotions. Each island is basically a different stage of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. There's no dialogue or combat, just quiet exploration, puzzles, and the world slowly changing as you move through it.

Setting: The World of Elaria

The game is set in this dreamy, magical sky world called Elaria, imagine floating islands above the clouds. Each island is its own little world:

• A foggy forest (Denial)

• A broken city of mirrors (Anger)

• A desert filled with sand and old timepieces (Bargaining)

• A twilight observatory (Depression)

• And finally, a peaceful garden that blooms when you finish (Acceptance)

As you walk around, the environment reacts to you, like flowers blooming, shadows moving, or statues crying. It’s kind of poetic and weirdly calming.

Game Mechanics + What You Actually Do

So the main gameplay loop is pretty simple:

Explore → Solve a puzzle → Unlock part of the story → The world changes.

A few core features:

• Environmental puzzles: Things like redirecting light, rotating paths, or fixing broken structures.

• Echo fragments: Little memory pieces you find that reveal bits of the character’s backstory.

• Resonance mechanic: You use a hum-like sound to “resonate” with things like statues or broken items. It changes the environment or reveals hidden stuff.

• No talking: Everything’s told through the visuals, music, and atmosphere, no voiceovers or written story.

  The puzzles are more emotional and symbolic than hard.

World-Building

The backstory is that there was once this old civilisation in Elaria that powered everything with emotions. Now it’s all falling apart, and you're basically walking through the ruins of that.

Each island reflects a different emotion:

• Weeping Forest: Foggy and confusing, lots of hidden paths.

• Mirror City: Super reflective and chaotic, you literally face a version of yourself.

• Desert of Bargaining: You can dig up objects and trade with weird spirit things to reverse time.

• Dusk Observatory: Very sad, everything’s dark and broken. You even lose your powers temporarily.

• Blooming Garden: When you reach acceptance, the whole world lights up and opens up to you.

  
  

I tested with my cousin how music and lighting could give off emotional cues, which actually worked surprisingly well.

Three-Act Structure (How the Game Plays Out)

This part follows a simple story arc: basically a beginning, middle, and end.

Act 1 – Awakening: You wake up on an island with no memory. You start solving easy puzzles and collecting Echo Fragments that slowly hint at your past.

Act 2 – Fragmentation: You explore different emotional biomes (the grief stages). The puzzles get trickier, and you learn new ways to interact with the world's.Things hit a low point in the Observatory where you almost give up: the world turns dark and your powers weaken.

Act 3 – Renewal: You push through and enter the final garden. Everything starts to bloom. The echoes you’ve collected combine into one emotional story moment.The final puzzle is just planting a seed. That’s it. Then you get this peaceful ending where the camera pans out, soft music plays, and the credits roll.

Prototyping & Playtesting

Honestly, I started this with zero clue what I was doing. But knowing I wanted to create something with an impact I knew I had something brewing. I started throwing ideas around with AI, it suggested something in a dystopian world reflecting emotions, this is when I came up with my idea.

In Week 9, I built a rough version in Unity with grey blocks and sounds. I tested how standing near objects would trigger music or light changes. It actually felt like the world was “talking” to me, which was exactly what I wanted.

I know that prototyping and playtesting this game might be hard but I am willing to give it a try!

Final Thoughts

Echoes of Elaria turned out to be something I’m actually really proud of. It’s a quiet, emotional game that’s not about winning: it’s about feeling something. It reminded me how powerful simplicity can be, especially when visuals and sound do the storytelling.

Next steps: I want to work more on the visual style and build out one full level properly to see how it feels as a full experience.