CODE NAME: Odyssey
Odyssey is a game design I created in my COMM 638: Game Design class where we were all tasked to create game with meaning, intent, and having our voices in them. Growing up in household of generational trauma, part of my personal life as an adult has been navigating the world with that experience and moving forward from it. This game is a direct allegory of experiences I went through ranging from topics such as childhood trauma and finding acceptance.
The story of Odyssey is reflected in two modes: Memories and Dreams. In the Memory state, the player sees foggy memories of a human that shows interactive visuals synced to music depicting critical moments of their childhood. In the Dreams state, the player is in a dream that depicts the story of a galactic team that has crashed into a universe being destroyed by evil space demons. A celestial fairy seeks their help to destroy them, and in return, she will help them rebuild their ship to go back to their home universe. The player must utilize the weapons of each crew member to fight enemies and evil space monsters.
Design
Designing Odyssey was a length process that ultimately come to me after listening to Mercurial World by Magdalena Bay. Music has always played a significant role in my design process, and I decided that having a music rhythm system alongside lyrics would help the player understand the meaning and intent of each track and level.
Each Dream level is an allegory of the struggles of growing up with childhood trauma. The first level depicts a typical platformer game until you reach a space monster where after several fights, the player realizes that shooting and fighting it hurts you back rendering your weapons useless. Only until the player survives all its attacks will you be able to proceed and realize that you can’t fight this monster. Moving forward can’t be done with violence or anger, rather, move forwarding with yourself requires patience, acceptance, and forgiveness. A memory is then unlocked that plays Forgiveness by Rina Sawayama where she states that the song is "about forgiving people in my past, and things I couldn't control.”
The next level uses tracks such as VOID by Lil Nas X and Send My Love to John by Rina Sawayama that both discuss the nuances of growing up queer in a world and family that does not accept you.
Finally, the last level uses Frankenstein by Rina Sawayama. This boss over time begins adsorbing each crew member and their powers until you are left with only one character. The song is about grappling with personal trauma and the desire to be "normal." Sawayama speaks about feeling like a monster as a result of her trauma and longing to be fixed and loved. Ultimately, the player loses their last crew member and realizes that they cannot fight this “monster,” because this “monster” is you. This unlocks the final memory that shows there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Childhood trauma is complex, and children often blame themselves for events out of their control. Dealing with these experiences and stress oftentimes affects how the child navigates the world into adulthood, and this game aims to highlight some of my experiences and feelings navigating my life as an adult.
https://www.samhsa.gov/child-trauma/understanding-child-trauma
