Labyrinth of Draconia

Lore:

(basic plot synopsis given to player as storybook intro before the title screen)

Our hero is a blue-collar office worker living in Neo San Francisco in the year 20XX. His life is very boring: wake up, go to work, go to gym, go home, eat dinner, sleep, repeat. Many people like him live similar lives. This all changed one day as a dragon from the polluted clouds awoke from its slumber. Discontent with how humanity has digressed, it uses its powers to shape the heart of Neo San Francisco into its own labyrinth. Many people ran in terror. However, our hero merely smirked at the dragon’s presence and marched into his labyrinth ready for adventure. 

Storybook Intro Text:

Neo San Francisco 20XX

A city tainted by pollution and greed. Its citizens packed like sardines.

Day in and day out, they all go to work and return home in an endless cycle.

Until one day…

A gigantic dragon descended from the city’s smog.

Disgusted by humanity’s capitalistic greed, the dragon unleashes its fury. 

Destroying buildings and bending reality, terror itself reigned upon the masses.

All who valued their lives ran in a panic. 

But one man desired excitement…

Gripping his trusty tie, he marches into the dragon’s labyrinth for the thrill of the hunt.

And so begins our tale. 

Gameplay Loop:

Two parts: Labyrinth-Side and City-Side

Labyrinth-Side plays like a metroidvania: dungeon crawling, puzzle solving, killing enemies, etc. Main gimmick is that our hero has an excitement meter that starts full and slowly goes down over time. Fighting enemies will bring the excitement meter back up. The higher your combo string, the more your excitement meter fills up. If the excitement meter hits zero, you go back home with whatever treasure/abilities/anything you gained. If your HP reaches zero you start over with nothing gained. 

City-Side starts whenever our Hero returns home. Here he can use the money acquired to buy alcohol that increases his excitement meter at the bar, upgrade whatever weapons he finds at the weapon’s store (probably some kind of underground blacksmith or whatever), or whatever wacky ideas we think of/have time to implement. Once our hero is done with his business back home, he goes back into the Dragon’s Labyrinth. 

Labyrinth-Side:

First time you play the game:

• mini-tutorial level that shows you the controls of the game

• once beaten, you never return to it

• excitement meter unlocked at the end of it so players can get accustomed to the controls before the fun begins 

Enemies roam the labyrinth

• different types of enemies (discussed in more detail later)

• the excitement meter goes up whenever you attack them 

• explore long enough and you’ll find a boss fight

• if excitement meter runs out in the fight, you can start the fight over from the beginning if the player wishes

Discover treasure in the labyrinth:

• items are usually found in briefcases

• this game’s equivalent of chests

• could be money, consumable items, equipment, or abilities

• specific details of treasure discussed in more detail later

Enemies:

Slimes:

• little fellas who bounce around 

• if they hit a wall/ceiling they’ll stick to it

• they attack by jumping towards the player

• very simple attack pattern

Goblins:

• angry fellas

• will charge the player down and swing a club at them

• or whatever weapon we end up giving them

• they’ll stop after the swing, making them vulnerable 

Treasure:

Money:

• sum of cash acquired in one place

• far greater than an amount obtained from enemies

• either half or all money is lost on death (we’ll figure this out)

• used for City-Side section 

Consumable Items:

• items that have a limited number of uses

• once the use number hits 0, it will only refill under the following conditions:

• returning to City-Side and coming back to Labyrinth-Side

• finding more of them elsewhere in Labyrinth-Side

•  examples:

• item that heals HP

• item that boosts excitement meter gain for a brief period of time (coffee)

• throwables (ie. knives)

Equipment:

• items that can boost certain stats

• examples:

• tuxedo coat that gives heat resistance

• dress shoes that increase movement speed

• different types:

• headgear

• bodygear 

• footgear 

• only one type can be equipped at a time (maybe)

Abilities:

• two possible things:

• upgrades to the tie whip sword

• other tools that help exploration

• tie whip sword ability examples:

• Grapple Tie (pull far away switches + pull yourself to enemies or ledges)

• other tool examples:

• Walkie Talkie (warp you back to a specific point to help with backtracking)

City-Side:

Very chill and zero stakes part of the game:

• plays like a mini visual novel

• some things to do (we can add or take away as needed):

• Bar

• buy drinks

• drinks increase stats (most likely max excitement amount)

• if we have time here’s a drunk mechanic:

• drink too many drinks, you get drunk which halves movement speed and damage for the next run

• drink too little drinks, you don’t get the stat boosts

• the more frequent you drink, the more alcohol you need to meet the requirements 

• Gym

• pay a personal trainer to teach you new combos

• Casino

• gamble your money away

• has no stat benefits other than the CHANCE of making more money

• once done, you can return to Labyrinth-Side and do another run

Music:

(gee I wonder who this list is for…)

(in all seriousness if you think of places where I don’t have any music for go for it)