DEPARTED

DEPARTED is a 2D cooperative puzzle side-scrolling game that involves two siblings who have gone through grief. They must venture together to find out the source of their grief by helping each other.

This game was solely made by me as a project to tackle the concept of storytelling without the use of dialogue/text. The use of colour, game design, and environmental visuals deliberately tells how the characters portray their emotions. The monotone colour palette invokes the emotions of grief and depression, supported by ambience and 'weighty' controls of the game's mechanics. The idea of the game being a cooperative puzzle with its draggy controls relying on both players to complete the level pushes the narrative that both siblings need each other to work past their grief and move on. While this project proved to be successful in achieving its purpose, it took a longer period to understand the ways of conveying environmental storytelling rather than using dialogue.

In retrospect, this project allows me to convey emotions and storytelling through the use of environmental clues, ambience, and art direction.