Underliner Devlog #10 (March 12, 2022)

Hi. Hope everything is good. My previous puzzle game, Nine of Wands, was a linear game. So If you're stuck on a puzzle, you can't progress further. Although this wasn't that big problem in Nine of Wands since the puzzles weren't that difficult, this linear structure still made the game a little monotonous.

In Underliner, the game won't force players to solve puzzles. When players stuck on a puzzle, they will be able to skip it and explore other areas. Actually, this is something many games like Braid, The Witness, Stephen's Sausage Roll, and A Monster's Expedition have already implemented. I'd love to see how it goes with my game.

Meanwhile, I've been thinking about how the game will switch between maps. Although Underliner has an open world map, I'll be divided into 3 to 5 different maps. Not only this allows me to create different atmosphere for each map, but also players won't have to run around too much.

Players will be able to switch between maps through a car. This car is not a working vehicle, but instead it functions as a tiny hub world. Solving puzzles will open shortcuts to the car, like the image above vaguely shows. This feature is not yet developed, so I'll talk more about this later.

That's all for today! Thanks.