A Game Concept to Inform and Inspire
Project: Into the North
Created for the course Individual Design Project Spring of 2020.
The Concept
In this individual Design Project I wanted to create a game concept that is based on a strong personal story. I also wanted to craft the visual world using my skills as an artist, designer and art director.
I based my concept on a Swedish saga that was originally made as a geography school book for young students in 1906.
The character in the saga is travelling from Skåne in south Sweden to Lappland in north Sweden. It was a good story to base my game on since the character is on a clear journey, from point A to B.
Lappland is to a big part the homeland of the Sami people. Their mythology and folklores are incredibly inspiring and I wanted to wave in at least one of those amazing stories into the game. The fundation of the game is simply to enlighten and inspire in the genre’s of Horror, Adventure and Indie.
The Story
In this game we get to know three sisters with Sami heritage. The youngest sister is severly sick in cancer, and in desperation the middle sister seek to an old folklore of the Sami people. A story that makes her travel back to Lappland. It’s about the Noaidi, the central figure in Sami society. He had been appointed by the spirits and his most important task was to maintain contact with the spiritual worlds, especially the world of the deceased. To him, the people turned to crises of various kinds such as starvation or disease.
In the underworld, the Noaidi could negotiate with the mistress of the kingdom of death, Jábbmeáhkko, for the soul of the sick. Against the promise of sacrifice to the dead or their mistress, the Noaidi could bring the soul back and the sick recovered. If the Noaidi wasn’t able to bring the soul back home, it meant that the sick person died. He could take shapes of animals when he visited the underworld, mainly as a bird, a reindeer, a snake or a fish.
Moodboards
Character sketches
Logotype
Character Animation
Inside the Game
