Design main page

Erin and the Otherworld

Team Composition

Elliot Craig - Designer, Narrative

Anurag Gotety - Programmer

Marceline Hileman - 2D Artist, Narrative

Nicholas Jager - Producer, UI

Zixi "Victor" Liu - Composer, Designer

Caden Mockler - Designer, Narrative

Nicholas Thoman - Programmer

Joshua Tonner - Programmer

Riley Halloran - Programmer

Current Status

The player is given a full 10-card starting deck with all three colors and some status effects. They can receive more cards through a reward system that gives the player new cards in bundles after every combat. We have four different enemies implemented, that have a special ability, art, rough animations, their own unique move sets. 

Concept Statement

Use magic powered by drawing constellations to defeat enemies from Celtic mythology that threaten your homeland.

Concept Paragraph and Unique Selling Points

In Erin and the Otherworld, the player is a druid in an ancient Celtic mythological world. This druid uses constellations to power up rituals to defeat enemies and close the portal to the otherworld. This Celtic theming is something not found in many games and gives the game a mystical aesthetic. The player will be going on a journey to close the portal and see their dead lover and save their home.

The player will journey through 10 different encounters, facing increasingly difficult enemies and having narrative event encounters along the way. If the player dies, they start their journey over again, ready to try and close the portal once more.

To defeat enemies, the player connects different colored stars in the sky. Starting and ending from a node star, the constellation provides colored energy to the Druid's altar. The altar contains the ritual cards in a sort of conveyor belt, playing them in a random order determined each turn. Each ritual card requires its own specific amount and color of energy, and when that is met, the card is played. Some may damage or stun the enemy, while others will heal and protect the player. 

USPs-

• Connect the dots mechanic

• Ancient world inspired by Celtic mythology

• Conveyor-belt style deck

Genre

Erin and the Otherworld is a turn-based roguelite deckbuilder. During levels, players will have to think about how to best power up their rituals, without blocking themselves off from the rest of the sky. What stars they should use, how to avoid any obstacles, and the enemy's telegraphed actions force the player to make trade-off decisions during gameplay. In addition, Erin and the Otherworld takes advantage of core roguelite features. Primarily when the player runs out of health, they will have to start a completely new run and randomized runs.

Target Audience

Erin and the Otherworld is targeting players that fall under the creativity and mastery archetypes. 

We encourage the creation of unique constellations that the player can make in any shape and size they like. 

To master the game, the player must take full advantage of the stars at their disposal to power up the optimal deck. This is done by making constellations with the needed color of stars that synergize and make it easy to play multiple cards with the same constellation. We believe the game has potential for a high skill ceiling and level of mastery. 

Player Experience

As an ancient Celtic druid, the player is able to stretch their creative muscles by drawing different constellations to defeat enemies. Players will be able to interact in a Celtic-inspired world which they journey through to close the portal to the otherworld. The goal is for the player to make smart decisions and powerful constellations. The player can build constellations out from a central node by drawing lines between stars, like connect the dots, to power up their ritual cards. Using different colored stars, the player can create constellations that power the ritual that's ready to be played. At the end of a battle, the player can also pick new rituals to add to their deck before moving on to the next battle.

Key Moments

The first key moment that should stick with the player is the first constellation drawn. Making the constellations is easy and fun, and the player should feel a sense of accomplishment and feel more comfortable with the mechanics afterwards. The next big moment is the player's first victory. The player should feel a sense of accomplishment, and will be rewarded with their first new ritual. After that, the next key moment is the player's first loss. This game is designed so that the player will most likely not be able to beat it on their first try, and the player's first full loss will be a big moment in them adjusting to this difficulty and facing a strong challenge in the game. Another key moment would be certain event encounters for the player. The event encounters break up the combat and help tell the narrative to the player, as well as have different consequences for their combat ability. After that, key moments would be defeating mini-bosses. Of course, eventually beating the game is the final key moment. It's the culmination of multiple runs of effort, and it should be extremely satisfying, with a narrative punch as well.

• First constellation drawn

• First victory

• First death

• Progressing to a new stage for the first time

• Event encounters

• Gaining a legendary ritual

• Beating the game

Current Target Platform

The target platform for this game is for it to release on PC. As well as release on Tablet iOS and Tablet Android

Competition

Erin and the Otherworld faces competition from a few different sources. First is other strategy deckbuilders games, such as Shadowhand or Slay the Spire, where the player makes decisions in how to attack and defeat an enemy in a similar, indirect way to Erin. Slay the Spire was also an initial inspiration for the combat of Erin, although the game has since moved in its own direction. What separates Erin is its moment to moment gameplay. The goals are similar, but the method of drawing constellations to defeat enemies is unique from these other games.

The other large competition comes from the casual side. Erin and the Otherworld features similar matching mechanics to games like Candy Crush or Puzzle Quest. However, Erin is more complex moment to moment than those games, and has a higher level of difficulty overall.

Art, Sound, and Music

The art style is simple 2D cartoon, taking inspiration from ancient Celtic creatures. The color palette is vibrant with lighter colors being more desaturated and darker colors more saturated. Cosmic themes will also be highlighted. Characters, such as enemies, will be drawn using descriptions from the real myths they come from, and use more vibrant colors to stand out.

Sound effects will try and capture a mystical, spiritual feeling, and also have a connection to nature. Sounds should immerse the player with realistic diegetic effects, hearing the sounds of combat, or have them feel the power of the stars. Music will involve a light orchestra inspired by Celtic themes and using mostly wooden string instruments and flutes. The music will focus on 4 key features: playful, calming, dark, and triumphant.

Monetization

This game is going to be monetized by being sold on digital platforms such as our primary market Steam, along with Itch. It has no in-game monetization, so it relies solely on sales from these platforms for revenue. After reviewing prices for similar games, we have decided $5 is the current target price. As far as indie roguelite games go, this falls in line with a typical price, while larger similar games such as Hades or Slay the Spire can sell for over $20.