š Pitch
Hey you... Please help my father. He seems lost in his thoughts. He's really sick, you know.
Lend him a hand, for us, his loving family.
š Introduction
AlzMemory? is a short narrative game that immerses players in the fragmented mind of a father battling Alzheimerās. Through intimate vignettes, the game explores his struggles with fading memories and the emotional weight of past regrets, as his children, grandmother, and subconscious bring buried feelings to the surface.
We created this project for the Hauts-de-Seine Festival, where the theme was Courage. My goal during this project was to guide players into feeling and thinking through a character with his own story and background.
For this particular narrative, we chose to focus on Alzheimerās. I had to research the illness and design interactive mini-games within the dialogue to help players engage directly with its impact on peopleās lives.
š¾ Gameplay
The game is very simple. Players click to progress through the dialogue and play small mini-games using their mouse.
Since itās short and linear, the dialogue flows naturally, and players just need to click to follow the story. When a mini-game appears, players can interact and complete it easily.
The goal was to create a narrative-driven experience with interactive moments that help players understand the illness and its effects on daily life.
š What I've realized on the project
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Dialogues
Together with Yann, the second Game Artist, we wrote the dialogue lines and defined the roles and placement of each character in the game.
I wanted to create a smooth story that players could easily follow, understand their impact on the narrative, and grasp each characterās intentions.
All the characters
- Father : He is the one suffering from Alzheimer, he's still living his life with his kids in a nice house even tho his memory loss
and impact from the illness make his life way harder in the daily basis
- Grandma : She is still living with his son and grandchildrens, tormented by the loss of her beloved husband but really happy
to spend some good time with the family
- Grandpa : Passed away years ago, was rough but a good father to his kid, teaching him maners and how to live. Probably his roughness
made his relation with his son harder during his last moments in the hospital
- Daughter : The oldest of the childrens, she had to learn life the hard way by taking care of her father with his illness.
But she is happy and enjoy life with her two demonic little brothers
- Twins : Energetic little monsters, they spend their time outside fighting togethers,
crafting wooden house and exploring the woods surrounding the house
-
Interactive mini games
The Smoke
The first mini-game begins when the grandmother talks about a spider the twins should dig up in the garden. The goal is to help the father understand what sheās saying, despite his confused thoughts.
A chatbox appears filled with smoke clouds. The player must clear them with the mouse cursor. Once all the clouds are gone, the text finally appears.
The Rain
This one is tied to a sad and emotional moment. Lost in his mind, the father imagines speaking to his late father. They talk about kindness and how to honor the death of a living creature, digging a grave and saying a few heartfelt words.
A chatbox appears with invisible words. A fuse begins to burn, and rain falls inside the box. The mouse cursor becomes an umbrella. The player must shield the burning fuse from the rain to reveal the word, letter by letter. Once a word is complete, a new fuse starts burning, and the player must quickly move the umbrella to protect it.
If the rain touches the fuse, the word resets and the player must start that fuse again.
(Punishements?)
Since itās a narrative-focused game, I didnāt want players to lose or restart unchanged dialogue, that would be frustrating. Instead, mistakes just trigger a quick reset, nothing major.
š Lessons Learned
- I learned how hard it is in a small project like this to make characters truly impactful for players, along with the story itself.
- I feel the game lacked interaction, mini-games, and dialogue options, it leaned too much toward a āclick-throughā experience.
- Still, I loved the projectās art and universe design. I wouldāve liked to make the narration a bit lighter and more engaging, so players could connect with the father more easily and enjoy interacting with the family.
ā” Quick infos
Project made in 3 weeks (only during free time).
The game was nominated at the Hauts-de-Seine Festival in the 18+ category.
The team:
- Game Artists: Lucio Mazza & Yann Gigez
- Programmers: Victor Lacombe & Gabriel Le Mer
- Designer: Myself
The game is not playable. We chose not to publish it since it was a short project, and we wouldāve liked more time to fully develop the story and experience.
