Enter the palace

Game title: Enter the palace!

Developed by: Hanuma

Year: 2016

This is a puzzle game for a team of 2 players, each taking turns and playing. The king of the palace announces that all local folks are open to enter this game to win riches when they finish the game successfully. Follow the two rooms in the palace and win gold and treasure!

This puzzle game following 7 steps is designed and the details are shown below.

1. Inspiration

Pacman

Maze games

Aladdin

Can you escape

Marauder's map

2. Specification

Goal:

The goal of the player is to enter the mazes (the first being an artifact maze and the second being a room full of important documents). The player is initially given 4 lives. There are boulders which the player has to push through and get rid of to make the path to reach the artifact open.

In the first maze he will find guards each of them guarding an artifact. The guards will give him riddles, or mastermind mini puzzles to solve and to answer which on being correct open up the locked artifacts. We don't really give information to the player that he has to collect 4 particular artifacts. He only realizes it later in the next phase and can come back and collect the rest. There are conditions wherein the player has to get correct answers to the riddles in 4 attempts. In case his attempts die, he will lose a life and will have to revert back to the start and his partner can get in. Also if his lives are over, the player is eliminated. There are monsters inside the puzzle at random places which on encounter kills the player thus making him lose a life and start from first.

The player next enters the second room (phase) with all his collected artifacts. He will come across three encounters, he can also revert back and start his journey in the second room at any point of time. The three encounters are door, box and a paper. Here the player uses his key for the door, coins for the box and pen for the paper. The moment he successfully encounters each obstacle, he will be given a piece of information which should be used or combined with others at the time of exit. Also there are 3 exits, wherein only one gets him out of the palace.

Board:

Network

Pieces:

All irrelevant details are eliminated and each room is unique and not similar.

Moves:

Move left/right

Move up/down

Ctrl to choose guard

Ctrl to grab artifact

Space to unlock door

Keyboard user interface

3. Prototype

Artifacts room

1-Key

2-Coin

3-Pen

4-Hints to level

Documents room

1-Door to use key

2-Box to insert coin

3-Paper to write with pen

4. Levels

The game has two levels. The first level rewards the player with 2 extra lives. The second room gives away the riches as promised by the king.

5. The big picture

This is a linear-straight kind of puzzle game with 2 levels wherein the first should be the artifacts finishing which the player can enter the second (documents).

6. Testing

Each level seems like fun. Since it consists of multiple paths it seems to be very interesting and difficult for the player to navigate. There are no simpler solutions. The player has to go through all paths, but he is given another option of reverting back and traversing again in the second room.

7. Polish

Sound can be navigating music. Backdrop music can be old arab music. Palace graphics with towering walls and pillars with authentic chandeliers can be used. Animation can be in a 3D format to make more real and interesting. Hints systems are riddles and mastermind mini puzzles which can be of any type.