Tetragon

Game Design Breakdown

Storytelling Through the Art of Game Design

Tetragon_Mission_01

Tetragon_Mission_02

Tetragon_Mission_Final

Tetragon_Mission_01

1/10

The Fruitful Forest: Teaching how to solve puzzles

Beat 1: Lucios Falldown

I love this opening moment in the game; many ideas came together to create this cinematic. The introduction of the Fruitful Forest, combined with the scene of Lucios waking up, perfectly captures the sensation of awakening in an unfamiliar place.

Beat 2 - Traveling between planes

One of the most crucial sequences in the game, as it embodies the core gameplay loop. It took us a significant amount of time to bring all these features together, including entering and exiting the portal, level transitions, and character animations.

Beat 3: World Rotation

This level introduces world rotation and death mechanics. For world rotation, I aimed for a mechanic that gives the player full control. Therefore, we implemented a side slide that activates when the rotation is complete, triggered by releasing the input at the slide's limit. As for death, it's designed to be swift—just a flash followed by a quick restart.

Beat 4: The power of the lantern

This is the final level of the tutorial where the player will learn how to use the power of the magical lantern to manipulate towers and create a path to the portals. After this level, the challenges will become more difficult, and the player will encounter the true nature of Tetragon. We push outselfs to create a nice cinematic to this moment.

Beat 5: Two ways

While playtesting my puzzles in Tetragon, I noticed that many times people came up with new solutions that I had never noticed before. I decided to include some of these solutions, and this level demonstrates to players that many puzzles can have more than one solution.

Beat 6: The witch’s house

One of my favorite levels in the game, my goal here is to bring magic and mystery to life. This marks the first appearance of Jerry's ghost. The player is now lost in this world with all they have learned from the tutorial. The difficulty is not high, but it is enough to test their skills.

Secret Level: Inside the House

I love secret levels; they're a great way to reward exploration and player awareness. In Tetragon, I took care to create one secret level per area. This allows players to explore different places in search of collectibles and to discover a bit more about this world.

Beat 7: The Twisted Tree

This level raises the challenge in the Fruitful Forest area. I've increased the number of rotation totems, and some are strategically placed to confuse players. Additionally, this level introduces the first two-sided rotation totems, requiring players to choose the direction of rotation.

Beat 8: Empty Village

This is the first level where the player encounters Jerry's Ghost. They are now nearing the end of the Fruitful Forest. This area required the most effort as we aimed to captivate the player's attention—it serves as the hook of our game, and we extensively playtested its flow.

Final Beat: The Traveler and The Castle

The castle serves as the boss puzzle of the Fruitful Forest. In this level, there are no portals, which adds to the confusion and mystery. Players need to adopt a different mindset of connecting symbols, and it's rewarding to witness their pride when they successfully solve it.

Overview

System Design

Mission Design

Puzzle Design

Narrative Design

Alexandre Chaves aka DevGiraffe

Game/Level Designer & Author of Games

Tetragon

Game Design Breakdown

Storytelling Through the Art of Game Design

The Fruitful Forest: Teaching how to solve puzzles

Beat 1: Lucios Falldown

I love this opening moment in the game; many ideas came together to create this cinematic. The introduction of the Fruitful Forest, combined with the scene of Lucios waking up, perfectly captures the sensation of awakening in an unfamiliar place.

Beat 2 - Traveling between planes

One of the most crucial sequences in the game, as it embodies the core gameplay loop. It took us a significant amount of time to bring all these features together, including entering and exiting the portal, level transitions, and character animations.

Beat 3: World Rotation

Beat 4: The power of the lantern

Beat 5: Two ways

While playtesting my puzzles in Tetragon, I noticed that many times people came up with new solutions that I had never noticed before. I decided to include some of these solutions, and this level demonstrates to players that many puzzles can have more than one solution.

Beat 6: The witch’s house

One of my favorite levels in the game, my goal here is to bring magic and mystery to life. This marks the first appearance of Jerry's ghost. The player is now lost in this world with all they have learned from the tutorial. The difficulty is not high, but it is enough to test their skills.

Secret Level: Inside the House

I love secret levels; they're a great way to reward exploration and player awareness. In Tetragon, I took care to create one secret level per area. This allows players to explore different places in search of collectibles and to discover a bit more about this world.

Beat 7: The Twisted Tree

This level raises the challenge in the Fruitful Forest area. I've increased the number of rotation totems, and some are strategically placed to confuse players. Additionally, this level introduces the first two-sided rotation totems, requiring players to choose the direction of rotation.

Beat 8: Empty Village

This is the first level where the player encounters Jerry's Ghost. They are now nearing the end of the Fruitful Forest. This area required the most effort as we aimed to captivate the player's attention—it serves as the hook of our game, and we extensively playtested its flow.

Final Beat: The Traveler and The Castle

The castle serves as the boss puzzle of the Fruitful Forest. In this level, there are no portals, which adds to the confusion and mystery. Players need to adopt a different mindset of connecting symbols, and it's rewarding to witness their pride when they successfully solve it.

Mission Design