Alex Stoneman (Ali), Amy Eaton
Pieces Ali has written will have headers that are highlighted GREEN, and pieces Amy has written will have headers that are highlighted BLUE
Genre: Puzzle exploration
Key themes: language and communication, futurism, urban decay
Target audience: 12+
Playtime: 30 minutes
The Tower of Babel allows players embark on a captivating journey guided by the enchanting harmony of music from an old land, and the mesmerizing glow of lights, to reestablish language in a world where communication is solely based on pictorials. Set in a beautifully crafted and mysterious realm, the game challenges players to unravel the secrets of a future civilization and restore the power of language. The objective is to restore language by solving puzzles and collecting fragments of the lost linguistic system. Throughout the game, players not only restore language to the space, but also learn about the civilization's history, its rise and fall, and the reasons behind the loss of language. Their journey becomes a personal quest for understanding, as they uncover the profound significance of language in human connection, cultural preservation, and knowledge transmission. The game provides an engaging and thought-provoking adventure for puzzle lovers and those interested in the power of communication. Embark on a captivating journey, decode their symbols, and bring words back to the silent realm.
In The Tower of Babel, players explore a futuristic cityscape in which all know languages have been lost. The main aim for players is to unlock an ancient, towering centerpiece that answers the question: where have all the languages gone, and why did they disappear?
Evidently, our game is based on an old Bible story centered on the city of Babylon that aims to explain why people speak different languages. According to the myth of ‘The Tower of Babel’, a group of travellers bands together after the Great Flood to build a tower that escapes the rising water and reaches God in Heaven. Insulted by the idea of people wanting to escape the flood to confront him, and thereby death, God scrambles their words so that they can no longer understand each other and no longer build. He then scatters them globally where they spread their new languages amongst other civilians. This has also been used to explain why there’s so much conflict in the world today - language was built from God's anger
The type of essential experience we are aiming for is to give players feelings of power and autonomy via atmospheric exploration and learning, in a world in which this would have previously been unheard of (Schell, J. (2018). Art Of Game Design.)
Our game focuses on storytelling and discovery, rather than replayability.