A short experimentation about how two inverse worlds may interact. This game is still a work in progress as I feel there is more to explore.

Development

The development of this game was done through the use of the wonderful PuzzleScript puzzle game engine. This game is more of an experiment of game design than technical ability. I have been fascinated by puzzle games such as Myst & Braid and I have had the concept of inverse worlds in my mind for a long time. Having been inspired by game designers such as Jonathan Blow, I wanted to explore some of his puzzle design methods and see how well it actually works in practice.

Creating the Universe

I started by coming up with a concrete set of rules that I felt really encapsulated the concept of two inverse worlds interacting with each other. The concept was that where the first world exists, the second doesn’t; and where the second world exists, the first doesn’t. The main interaction that becomes interesting in this universe is that movable objects in one world directly affect the other. This game explores that concept through the control of two characters - one in each world.

Puzzle Design

The puzzles in this game were completely designed through the use of exploration. After having the core set of universe rules in place, I experimented and tested different scenarios until I started identifying interesting phenomena that occur when both worlds interact with each other. Each of these phenomena were distilled into puzzle levels of varying difficulty.