Design Diary of Gravestone Whispers

The game I designed, titled "Gravestone Whispers," is a 2D puzzle horror web game created using the Bitsy engine. Players control a little girl transformed into a monster, exploring dungeons and unraveling puzzles on each level. Due to the characteristics of the Bitsy engine, the game features pixel art graphics and 8-bit music.

Growing up, I played a 2D puzzle tower game called "Magic Tower," developed by N.W. from Caravan Software in Japan. I adored the experience of finding items to unlock corresponding doors, battling monsters, and delving deeper into the exploration. Despite its minimal game elements, the joy of strategic planning and solving puzzles provided immense satisfaction. Inspired by "Magic Tower," I aimed to integrate these elements into my game, focusing equally on puzzle-solving and narrative.

Bitsy engine simplifies coding and artistic expression but limits some game functionalities. I planned to emphasize puzzle mechanics in the first half of the game (levels 1-4) and narrative aspects in the latter half (levels 6-8) to balance the pros and cons of the engine.

While watching Bitsy tutorial videos on YouTube, I discovered several tricks that proved useful for "Gravestone Whispers":

1. Sprite creation need not be limited to humans or animals; it could be anything you want the protagonist to interact with. For example, before entering the final tomb, I set the sprite as a desktop computer terminal, an anachronism in a 19th-century dungeon. This provokes player curiosity—why is there a modern computer in an abandoned ancient dungeon? Is this really a dungeon?

2. Changing the protagonist's appearance after room transitions can refresh the visual experience for players and serve the narrative. After collecting three magic potions, the protagonist temporarily reverts to a little girl, satisfying players' sense of achievement. Subsequently, the girl uncovers the secrets of human experiments, revealing to players that the dungeon is an endless mode where her memories are erased repeatedly, turning her back into a monster, destined to roam the labyrinth until the experiment concludes.

3. Designing exits & endings can create hidden rooms and many puzzles. When players reach an exit tile, they are switched to a copy of the previous room but with added hidden rooms, creating the illusion of entering a "hidden room," though they actually enter a new map through a door, adding a philosophical dimension.

After completing the game, I invited friends to beta test it. The feedback highlighted unexpected bugs and narrative improvement suggestions. Most bugs were related to exits; the default bidirectional exits caused issues if the monster reverted to a girl after drinking all potions and then retreated, allowing the potions to be consumed repeatedly. Players ignoring prompts could dive underwater as the monster without acquiring the required breathing apparatus, halting game progress.

Revising these exit settings took considerable time, teaching me to anticipate player behaviors that deviate from the planned path and ensure room transitions are reversible.

Narratively, based on friends' suggestions, I introduced contradictions in NPC dialogues and object interactions within puzzle levels, gradually sensitizing players to the significance of the name "Alice" and various time periods, setting the stage for the final revelation.

The first version of the game is polished and released, with potential minor enhancements in the future. I hope to learn using Bitsy hacks, like mirroring the girl's sprite during horizontal movements.

Thanks to the summer school course at Aalto University, and to Lera Nikitina and Edward Morrell for rediscovering the pure joy of game creation. Remembering the creator of "Baba Is You," who developed over a hundred games without coding skills, I'm reminded that while art and coding can be learned, continuous reading, thinking, playing great games, and exploring the world are invaluable experiences that contribute to creating excellent games.