Journey Within - Designing a 2D side scrolling game to foster emotional resilience
Building and prototyping game interactions in gadot
Team
Independent project
Timeline
Dec 2024 (3 weeks)
Skills
Tools
Adobe illustrator, Godot, Keynote
From Idea to Direction
Journey Within is a 2D side-scrolling platformer game where players help Ember, the protagonist, restore balance to her emotions. Through surreal and neuron like landscape inspired by human mind, players tackle the terrain and enemy challenges representing emotions like anxiety, envy, nostalgia, boredom and embarrassment.
The Intent
I set out to design and prototype a 2D side-scrolling game in Godot to explore how interactive systems can help people understand complex emotions.
Secondary emotions such as anxiety and embarrassment etc are often perceived negatively. Yet they serve protective and social functions. I wanted to reframe them not as weaknesses, but as adaptive signals.
How might I design a game that help players understand the positive role of the secondary emotions and learn to overcome it?
Game Overview
The game addresses the need for secondary emotional understanding and resilience.
It presents a playful, engaging way to reframe emotions as tools for growth instead of obstacles.
Target Audience
Designed for teens and adults who are interested in seeking an imaginative and reflective gameplay experience.
Inspiration
The game idea was inspired by the emotional depth portrayed in
Inside Out 2
Game Overview
The game addresses the need for secondary emotional understanding and resilience.
It presents a playful, engaging way to reframe emotions as tools for growth instead of obstacles.
Target Audience
Designed for teens and adults who are interested in seeking an imaginative and reflective gameplay experience.
Inspiration
The game idea was inspired by the emotional depth portrayed in
Inside Out 2
PRIMARY GAMEPLAY
PRIMARY GAMEPLAY
• Platforming Challenges: Run, jump, avoid toxin spikes and navigate neuron-inspired challenging terrain/platforms across each emotional realms.
• Emotion-Based Abilities: Unlock and use abilities tied to emotions, like the “Deep Breath Blow” in the Level 1- Whirlscape Realm (representing anxiety emotion in its fearest form) to kill the enemy and proceed.
• Memory Orb Collection: Collect glowing orbs that represent positive emotional memories to gain energy to advance the level and fight with enemy to restore balance.
