The Life of Bean
My project attempts to portray emotional loss in a videogame by constraining player mechanics and altering gameplay as the game progresses. The player can switch between two characters, a young boy named Bean and a mamba snake. Each character has different methods of interacting with the world which requires them to work together to progress.
Description:
“The Life of Bean” is a 3D adventure/ puzzle video game that explores the concept of grief in a game design capacity to express emotional loss and the search for an answer by using similar mechanics to games such as Brothers: Tale of two sons(2012), Ico(2001) and Final Fantasy. These games all use two or more characters' reliance on each other to convey an emotional state of loss to the player. My game is presented from a third-person view, where the player controls two characters. The player must use both characters to solve each puzzle and finish the game. As an example, the snake character can activate the platforms and the boy is able to talk with ghosts. This profound link between the two is noticeable by making their mutual abilities irreplaceable in different instances during the game. My game examines how narrative, interactivity, and engagement are mutually reshaped within this new domain of media entertainment.
Play the demo through the itch.io link above.
