Issue #8 - The Timeloop
The beginning of summer is upon us once again, and what better time to discuss the repeating nature of the timeloop mechanic within Barty's Adventure. While I've gone into the world and characters a bit, I feel like I haven't fully explained the main system in the game itself: going back in time and starting the three day cycle over again. Let's get into the details here.
The Beginning of the End
The story of the game starts on the cusp of a huge even: the Delivery. This is when a new Baby is brought to the House. This has only happened twice before, and with it usually comes huge changes. With the first Baby, Princess Dolly arrived and founded Stuffies Town. With the second came the Colic, and despair for some time after that. The toys of the house are nervously anticipating this Delivery and what will come with it.
Playing as Barty, you are the new Baby's first toy. And with that, Princess Dolly has tasked you with preparing for the Delivery. What choices you make will determine whether all of the toys of the House will be played with once again, or if the Colic will return. But with only a few hours to complete your task, you'll need a way to find more time. Thankfully, the Bubble Fairy is here to help. With her magic bubbles, she has granted Barty the power to control time, loop back a few days, and provide him with the time he needs to stave off the Colic and save the day!
Mechanically, the Bubble Fairy puts you into a resetting three day loop where NPCs, bosses, quests, and items are all reset. You'll have to figure out the best way to proceed, and end the loop when you feel like you've done all that you can to make a difference.
You CAN Take It With You
As I said above, so much of the world will reset every time you loop back to the first day. But you do have a tool to help you prevent this reset: the magic bubble wand. By "bubbling" certain items, you hold them in their current state even if you loop back. This could mean saving a completed quest, having NPCs be aware of the loop and remember you, holding onto precious powerups, or ensuring a tough boss is defeated. At the end of each cycle, you'll be able to mark in your Bubble Fairy Activity Book which items you wish to save and which you wish to reset, fully customizing your playthrough to how you wish the world to be.
With the ability to save things from loop to loop, you are able to progress further and further through the world to try to find a way to prevent the Colic. You can end the game at any time by simply letting Princess Dolly know that preparations are ready. With multiple ending scenarios based on your actions, you may want to explore a little before you do that! But because of this flexibility, the game can be completed in 20 minutes or 20 hours. It will be wholly up to the player.
Hard Reset
So with all of that in mind, you can start to see how the flow of the game would progress. You explore and discover awesome items and colorful characters in the dozen or so unique biomes. And once you feel like you've made a dent, you loop out of that cycle and meet with the Bubble Fairy. She'll let you spend any magic bubbles you've collected on keeping specific things with you, while resetting all of the rest. And then you're back in Princess Dolly's Castle at the start of Day One.
I'm hoping this looping back phase will be a kind of a reset for the player as well. I want them to take a breath, relax, and settle in with the Activity Book to make informed choices about who to keep and who to reset. It's almost like a strategy section in the middle of a platformer, and I kind of like that. It also gives a definitive rest point if someone wants to play in shorter sessions. All in all, I'm happy with the game flow separated in this way, as both phases feed into each other. I'm hoping that others find it entertaining as well.
Thanks! 😄
This newsletter is an update series for the development of the game Barty's Adventure. If you are interested in continuing the conversation, please join the community Discord server: https://discord.gg/M7p2Mtgkyx. Your input in these early stages of the game are invaluable and much appreciated. Thanks!
