GAME INFO
Lament of Swan is a 2D side-scroller horror game with a puzzle-solving element. You will explore the mental world of a ballerina from a local theater and trace back to her tragic happening.
Explore the mental world of a ballerina from a local theater and trace back to her tragic happening.
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In October, I and my 7 game design classmates gathered together to participated in the itch.io scream jam, and eventually built up Lament of Swan. ​​
MY ROLE
I work as the lead narrative and gameplay designer of this project. Additionally, as one of the starters who gathered the group, I also took over the responsibility for project management. Time management for this project is extremely intense since all of our team members were in midterm week, and time limits for the jam submission are 7 days. Still, we managed to receive a rank of #71 in total, #6 in aesthetic, and # 10 in story.
BRAINSTORM & CASESTUDY
I convinced the group to settle down the role for development, basic gameplay, and scope of the project in the first meeting for brainstorming. I worried because of intense and divided schedules, our group won't be able to meet up together as frequently as we first expected.
This turned out to be true- we only managed to conduct two all-member meetings in between the week, and one last for debug and wrap-up on the last day, morning. But since the direction for developing had been set up on the first day, and tasks were distributed to every member at the very start, the project was able to go through two rounds of iteration before the final submission.
I collect thoughts from all team members to categorize and summarize them into 5 different design direction for us to vote for. Because of my passion in various form horror games, I was able to give out examples for every direction to in ensure everyone could understand each other's thoughts. This also helped to create guide for art directions and further development towards gameplay.
FRAGMENTED INFORMATION
There are no conversations between characters but only fragmented information absorbed through interaction with the environment and objects. Since there's no linear narration or direct explanation towards the plot, player have to link up evidence in their mind to find a connection between pieces of information. The cutscene at the beginning and puzzle design were all designed to give out hints of the storyline.
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We've created a complete story along with world building behind the scenes, but I want player to be able to explore, interpret, and form the story in their mind through the atmosphere we create.
GAMEPLAY & PUZZLE
The core gameplay combined environmental interaction and a backpack-based puzzle system. Players collect items, use or combine them across scenes to unlock new paths and story fragments.
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Puzzle logic is designed intentionally uncanny—seemingly weird at first, but grounded in narrative context. For instance, player can use a hammer to break the mirror in the first dance studio, revealing a hidden river behind the glass and a key to backstage in it—echoing the protagonist’s background as a Swan Lake ballerina.
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Every puzzle is tied to the story, often reflecting character relationships and fate. They also exist as visual cues—like a half-torn photograph—gradually reveal more through exploration, blending gameplay and narrative into one cohesive experience.
