Game Idea A Week: The Four Seasons

Week Forty-Four (06/08/2010)

The idea for this week is a family-friendly platformer about the gods of the Four Seasons. You get to play as each of the Four Seasons and use special powers to save the Kingdom from the clutches of General Stability.

Platform:

PC, XBox 360, PS3, or Wii

Genre:

Platformer

Why it needs to be made:

"Evil" characters in many stories have no reasoning to their behaviour. In this story the villain, General Stability, has an understandable desire to predict the weather.

Description:

In the Kingdom of the Seasons there are four gods representing each of the four seasons: Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. The Four Seasons mostly live in harmony and take turns at looking after the Kingdom throughout the year. However, sometimes the Seasons bicker and the weather fluctuates rapidly. For years one man, named General Stability, has put up with the unpredictability of seasons ruining his plans for picnics, kite-flying, snowball fights and puddle splashing. He decides to take a stand and divide the land so that he can predict exactly what the weather will do and choose which weather he wants to visit.

General Stability begins whispering in the ears of the Four Seasons and convinces them that they deserve their own land without having to share with the others. General Stability and his minions divide the Kingdom into four separate lands and each season is given a Land to govern. What seems like a dream come true soon turns to a nightmare. The Four Seasons don't get any rest, the crops can't grow without the natural changes of the seasons, and the people who live on the land are given no break from the Season they live in. The Four Seasons realise they need to take back their land and restore the natural order again.

The game begins when Autumn tricks General Stability into letting him escape. The player controls Autumn with standard platformer mechanics. As the game progresses, the player rescues the other Seasons and controls them. Each of the Four Seasons has their own special power the player can use. Autumn can cover enemies in leaves and blow obstacles away. Winter can freeze enemies and water to create ice waterfalls to climb up. Spring can create instant lakes underneath enemies to drown them. Summer can melt objects and heat up the enemies' weapons.

The levels are themed based on the four divided lands: wind (Autumn), snow (Winter), rain (Spring) and sun (Summer). In early levels the player can only use the Season that matches the land they are in. However, as the game progresses and all the Seasons are unlocked, the player will be able to choose which Season to control in any of the lands.

Why it will be a compelling game:

The player starts with only one Season and simple mechanics of jumping and moving, but as the player gets to control each of the different Seasons they learn to use special powers. Players will want to continue playing so that they can unlock new powers and unlock all of the Seasons.

Other thoughts: