KAIROS
Designer, Producer, Sound Designer
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6 months
7 members team
Custom Engine
Kairos is a 2D top down puzzle adventure game with time-manipulation mechanics. You play as Herphynus, the daughter of Medusa, who embarks on a journey to find the truth behind the disappearance of her mother.
PRODUCER
Keeping the team on schedule, scrum master as well as coordinator between the team and external parties.
DESIGNER
Environment artist as well gameplay designer. Mainly the right hand of my Lead Designer.
SOUNDMAN
Composing more than 4 background musics and producing the introduction video for the game.
Claude Comair Grand Prize for Game of the Year (2nd Place)
Most Engaging Game (3rd Place)
Best Artificial Intelligence (2nd Place)
Best Sophomore Technology (3rd Place)
Best 3D Visual Design (2nd Place)
Best Graphics Technology (3rd Place)
LORE
Throughout centuries, legend has it that
Medusa transformed countless of unfortunate wanderers
who stumbled upon her lair into stone statues.
However, out of all the travellers she petrified,
She irrevocably fell in love with one of them.
From then on, Medusa gazed upon the moon nightly,
weeping over her tragic fate.
Having been a good servant to the Gods,
She was bewildered as to why she was placed
in such a predicament.
Empathizing with her plight,
Aphrodite agreed to purge Medusa of her curse for a year.
Following which, she blew three kisses.
The first kiss awakened the love of Medusa from the stone curse
The second kiss made him fall deeply in love with Medusa
and the last kiss granted him immunity to her cursed gaze.
Yet, all these came with one vital condition,
Medusa is to never bear a child of her lover...
Disregarding the warning Aphrodite gave,
Medusa broke the promise and soon gave birth to a demi-devil.
The couple named the child Herphynus, after the word "happiness"
In hopes that she can lead a happy, better life.
After 12 full moons, the year came to an end.
Fearing that Aphrodite would uncover her broken promise,
Medusa visited Hermes, Messenger of the God, under the cover of darkness.
She pleaded Hermes to send Herphynus far away
to Sotiras, an island sanctuary safe from Aphrodite
Hermes relented after much persuasion
and delegated the duty to a trustworthy guardian.
One day, Hermes discovered Herphynus’ hidden, innate ability
to slow down objects with her gaze.
As a departing gift, to the now orphaned child,
He bestowed upon Herphynus the Belt of Mercury,
Allowing her to manipulate and focus her time-bending effects,
also known as the Kairos effect.
WORLD OF KAIROS
Herphynus
Herphynus is a lovely young lady and also the daughter of Medusa. She was being entrusted to Hermes, the Messenger of the God, before landing in Sotiras. Inheriting the power from her mother, Herphynus is able to the bend time within her peripheral vision.
Aphrodite
Being the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite enjoys matching lovers together. However, she is also petty and full of jealousy. After finding out that Medusa broke her promise, she sends her army to kill her and Herphynus.
Quin
Quin is the village cat in the game. She plays a vital role in the game's narrative as well as provide hints and tutorials to better guide players in their navigation. At the end of the game, Quin is revealed to be Athena in disguise.
Athena
Athena is the Goddess of War. She is full of justice and compassion. Legend says that Athena turns Medusa into a monstrous creature. However, there seems to be a darker truth behind it.
Medusa
The mother of Herphynus and once a loyal servant of Athena. One day, she pleaded to once again fall in love. Empathizing by her plight, Aphrodite granted her wish but under one condition; to never bear children. Medusa broke that promise.
Village Chieftain
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Village Chieftain is the caretaker of Herphynus in the Village of Sotiras. She has been very close with Herphynus ever since.
Main Mechanics
The main mechanics of the game revolves around the use of Kairos Effect and Archery. Herphynus is able to hit objects over a great distance by charging her arrow and releasing it afterward. The Kairos Effect enables Herphynus to slow down objects within her field of view, which helps her greatly in solving puzzles and dodging hazards in the environment.
Kairos Effect
Kairos Effect allows Herphynus to bend time within her peripheral vision, which helps her solve puzzles and dodge hazards. The effect also charges up her arrow, allowing it to travel a further distance.
Archery
Living in Sotiras for sixteen years, Herphynus picks up the skill of Archery. Now she is able to hunt for the village and better protect herself.
Interactive Dialogue
There are plenty of interactive elements in Kairos, one of them is the interactive dialogue. Herphynus is able to interactive with different objects in the world such as the Signboard, NPCs and the Checkpoint, and most of them will provide useful hints or information with regards to the narrative.
Checkpoint
The checkpoint is represented by the statue of Athena. Upon praying to the statue, the fire pillars beside the statue will light up, symbolizing that the game has been saved.
NPCs
The NPCs in the game gives interesting dialogue which foreshadow events in the game. They also bring life to the village so that it will not look empty.
Puzzle Design
There are plenty of puzzle challenges in the game. The puzzles add depth and difficulty to better utilize the main mechanics, as well as pace out game play time. By solving the puzzles, players are given downtime from the heavy combat.
Lending Strength
Upon reaching the fence in the forest, a cutscene will prompt to hint the player that a large force will be able to break it. By lending the strength of the wild boar, Herphynus will be able to break the fence and proceed to the next area.
Crossing River
The rushing river is almost impossible to cross in this area. Worst of all, Herphynus does not know how to swim. Luckily, she is able to slow down the raft that is drifting across the river and get to the other side.
Combining Spirit Fires
Within the cavern, there are mysterious doors that will only open when the Spirit Fires are combined. Since the Spirit Fires move at different speeds, Herphynus can make use of the Kairos Effect to slow them down and eventually combine them to unlock the door.
Cutscene
What makes an adventure game if there are no cutscenes in it? In Kairos, there are many cutscenes which explain the world narrative. Players will find out Medusa's fate after Herphynus is being entrusted to Hermes.
Village on Fire
This is the scene where Aphrodite discovered where Herphynus is. The village is destroyed before Herphynus and the Village Chieftain can stop Aphrodite in time.
Aphrodite Finale
This is the final boss fight against Aphrodite. After the first phase, Aphrodite changes herself into a monstrous spider.
Combat Design
The combat revolves around the usage of the Kairos Effect and Archery. With the magic power of Aphrodite, the once peaceful forest now becomes chaotic. Herphynus has to make use of her abilities, in order to navigate through the forest.
Rafflesia
Rafflesia shoots out deadly petals that will damage Herphynus if she gets close to it.
RafflesiaEX
Unlike Rafflesia, RafflesiaEX disperses deadly vines in the shape of a donut that will damage anyone that touches it.
Deflector Crystal
The deflector crystal repels Herphynus' arrow and can be weakened and destroyed by a more powerful impact.
Music Composition
The following compositions are for my GAM200/250 project - Kairos.