The Elephant In The Room

A puzzle game. (Maaaaybe a puzzle platformer.)

Two people want to talk about something important (the metaphorical “elephant in the room”) … but there are literal elephants between the people (making this communication impossible).

(Of course, can also be more than 2 people, but that’s for later in the game.)

I just wanna draw cute elephants.

Do something with the fact they are large, and heavy, and have a really strong memory.

Maybe you can grow/shrink them. And they can “remember” some message you put into them? So you can move the elephant to relay that message to someone else?

Actual Practical Idea

You’re an elephant that can move left/right/up/down.

You’re inside a room. The level has random walls. Your objective is to get out. (Probably an exit square at the edge, but might be any square.)

The perspective is almost top-down, with pretty low walls, so vision is never obscured (even in flat 2D).

Your elephant can be in one of three states: small, regular, big.

The rules are as follows.

Small = can pass through doors/small spaces, can share a cell with another thing/elephant
Regular = nothing special
Big = cells will break down after you stand on them, can use weight triggers / triggers “high on the wall”, can break walls by moving through them
- There are two main walls? One like a door for which you need to be small, one like a box or bench which you can step over if you’re big.

Different tiles will grow/shrink you when you step on them. (Speech bubbles? Food?) Maybe a more thematic/interesting approach is to introduce other elephants/animals/people inside the room.

If you’re on or next to somebody (with no wall in-between), you shrink.
Otherwise, you grow.

Is this a “meter” and it takes several steps to switch from small<->large? Feels a bit too mathematical/detailed.

@TODO: Might remove “regular” size in its entirety? If it does nothing?

@TODO (possible expansion):

There are security cameras
You can only turn them off when big (otherwise you can’t reach the button)
You can’t be seen by them if you’re tiny.

@TODO (possible expansions):

You move through walls/objects by breaking them
But you can’t leave the level ( = win) unless you’ve also picked up equally many glue/tools/repair icons.

A puzzle game. (Maaaaybe a puzzle platformer.) Two people want to talk about something important (the metaphorical "elephant in the room") ... **but there are literal elephants between the people (making this communication impossible).** > (Of course, can also be more than 2 people, but that's for later in the game.) I just wanna draw cute elephants. Do something with the fact they are *large*, and *heavy*, and have a really strong *memory*. Maybe you can grow/shrink them. And they can "remember" some message you put into them? So you can move the elephant to relay that message to someone else? ## Actual Practical Idea You're an elephant that can move left/right/up/down. You're inside a *room*. The level has random walls. Your objective is to *get out*. (Probably an exit square at the edge, but might be any square.) The perspective is *almost* top-down, with pretty low walls, so vision is never obscured (even in flat 2D). Your elephant can be in **one of three states:** small, regular, big. The rules are as follows. - Small = can pass through doors/small spaces, can share a cell with another thing/elephant - Regular = nothing special - Big = cells will break down after you stand on them, can use weight triggers / triggers "high on the wall", can *break* walls by moving through them - There are two main walls? One like a door for which you need to be *small*, one like a box or bench which you can step over if you're *big*. Different tiles will grow/shrink you when you step on them. (Speech bubbles? Food?) Maybe a more **thematic/interesting** approach is to introduce other elephants/animals/people inside the room. - If you're *on* or *next to* somebody (with no wall in-between), you shrink. - Otherwise, you grow. Is this a "meter" and it takes several steps to switch from small\<-\>large? Feels a bit too mathematical/detailed. **\@TODO:** Might remove "regular" size in its entirety? If it does nothing? **\@TODO** (possible expansion): - There are security cameras - You can only turn them off when *big* (otherwise you can't reach the button) - You can't be seen by them if you're tiny. **\@TODO** (possible expansions): - You move through walls/objects by breaking them - But you can't leave the level ( = win) unless you've also picked up equally many glue/tools/repair icons.