Endless Studios: Haunted Castle

Language Learning, Puzzle, Platformer

Level | Gameplay

Project Details

Team Size - 3

Duration - 3 weeks

Playtime - 7 - 15minutes

Platform - PC

Released On - Endstar (Unreleased)

Tools - Endstar, Trello, Google Drawings, Google Document

Roles - Level Designer, Puzzle Designer

Summary

Using the Endstar Engine developed by Endless Studios, our team was tasked with creating a language learning puzzle-platformer level focused on teaching raise, lower, and turn in a foreign language. The level followed a structured learning progression: Introduction, Practice, Twist, and Mastery, encouraging players to build and apply their knowledge through gameplay.

Haunted Castle

Level Details - Techniques Used

PBreadcrumbing
- guiding the player using rewards like coins and lighting
Object Intentionality
- Using objects, color and lighting that stay consistent with the puzzles and learning the language.
Paced Learning
- Increasing the challenge over time
- Introduction -> Practice -> Twist -> Mastery

Puzzle Planning

The level was structured using the framework of Introduction, Practice, Twist, and Mastery. This helped us control the difficulty curve and introduce new mechanics gradually.
Our key teaching points for this level was local directions: (Left, Right, Up, and Down) via moving a ballista.
Because of the limitations of the engine, we had to think of a way to move the ballista in the 4 local directions. This resulted in setting up two turn wheels. One for Left and Right movement and the other for Up and Down movement.

Bubble Chart

v1 Endless Studios - The Living Castle Bubble Chart

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Top Down Map

v1 Endless Studios - The Living Castle Top Down Map

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Level Planning

Our foreign words to teach in this level greatly inspired its theme
Having a Haunted Castle that the player traverses comes with many opportunities to have moving pieces and entities of the castle and its surroundings (zombies, ghouls, coffins, bookcases, etc.)
To get the feel of a short, yet rewarding, journey, the level needed to have multiple distinct zones where the player would interact with the environment to solve puzzles (courtyard, graveyard, library, and throne room)

Level Flow

1. Entering the Castle

Lights and Coins draw the player's attention towards the castle gate.

2. Zombie Ambush

The NPCs tell the player to leave quickly. Players' first encounter with the levels theme (raise, lower, turn, and shoot) Coins and fires help guide the player towards the cemetery.

3. The Old Church

Player's see a large structure in the distance.

4. Raise the Soldier

Raising the soldier from the dead to help break into the castle.

5. Break the Castle Wall (Introductory Puzzle)

Follow the soldier's guide to break the wall and enter. Players' first introductory puzzle.

6. Meeting the Evil Wizard (Practice Puzzle)

The players' first interaction with the evil wizard and his tricks. They must solve this intermediate puzzle to continue (raising, lowering, and rotating the bookshelves).

7. Tricky Bookshelves

8. Moving Pathways (Twist Puzzle)

A narrow pathway opens into the castle's expansive storage. Introduce shooting the turn wheels to move the pathways up and down Lights behind the turn wheels help the player see them in the dim space.