Concept Document
Title
High Concept
You are a superhero who is captured by a group of villains and thrown into a labyrinth that you must escape from to get back to the city which you protect. The villains have placed your weakness at the beginning of the labyrinth and the further away you get the more powers become available to you.
Backstory
Elementus is a hero who controls the powers of all the earth’s elements. He can manipulate them to his will and use them to protect the city. One day, a legion of evil villains captures elemental and throws him in a labyrinth, the bottom floor has a giant cluster of contaminated ore, which is his weakness. He must get as far away from the ore as possible because it reduces his super strength and takes his powers away. To get out, and save the city from the evil villains, Elemental must navigate through ten floors to reach the exit of the labyrinth. Each floor is controlled by a different villain and requires a different tactic or technique to move onto the next floor. Elemental can use his mental telepathy to meditate and retrieve new powers or skills if he gets to the next level and away from the ore.
Target Rating
This game has been designed with a Teen rating in mind. As a Teen rated title, it adheres to certain criteria regarding content appropriate for players aged 13 and up. The game will involve combat against enemies, all violence will be non-graphic and stylized in order to avoid excessive gore or realistic threats. Elementus' powers allow him to overcome opponents without lethal or grim methods. Story themes and scenarios may involve some dark subject matter, but always in a manner suitable for older teens. Visual aesthetics like character designs and environments showcase a comic book inspired visual style to maintain appeal for its target age group. This also helps reinforce the proper rating through a look that distances the game from more serious or mature genres. By restricting certain violent, scary or otherwise mature elements, the Teen rating allows for an adventure that teens can enjoy while maintaining appropriate levels of challenge, storytelling and empowerment through heroic gameplay fit for its audience.
Target Market
This game is primarily targeted at 13- to 16-year-old male players who enjoy comic books, superheroes, and fast-paced action experiences. Boys in this age group tend to be drawn to power fantasies of playing heroic characters with amazing abilities. Elementus offers the thrill and fantasy of controlling elemental superpowers to overcome challenges. His increasingly robust move set as new abilities are unlocked provides a sense of constant progression in strength. The comic book-inspired visuals directly tap into the target audience's existing interest in the comic book medium. Stylization of environments, characters, and cutscenes aims to capture the aesthetic feel of walking through the pages of a comic. Gameplay is designed around action-focused combat, platforming, and puzzle scenarios to provide tightly paced, energetic sessions that maintain engagement for its intended younger teen audience. Mission objectives and flows are structured for pick-up-and-play sessions ideally suited for short bursts of play on mobile or home devices. Overall, by leveraging themes, aesthetics, mechanics and presentation elements that directly align with what this age group enjoys, the game aims to strongly resonate with and entertain its core target market.
“Fallen Hero: Rise of Elementus”
The title literally and figuratively describes the game. The hero has fallen, or in this case he was captured and placed in a labyrinth which he must escape. The deeper meaning of the title is that this hero has fallen out of touch with the society which he pledged to protect. The story of the game is about a hero who is too prideful to be a true hero and must look inward to regain his true form.
Genre
This game will be a roguelike that combines elements of superhero comic books. As the player guides Elementus through the procedurally generated floors of the labyrinth, they will navigate each level while also engaging in real-time combat against the villainous threats. Each floor presents a unique environmental hazard or obstacle to overcome through the application of Elementus' growing elemental powers. As more abilities are unlocked by progressing higher in the labyrinth, new strategic options open up for combat. By drawing from these core genres, the game aims to deliver a fast-paced, challenging experience where powers and tactics must be fluidly adapted on each run through the randomized depths as the player seeks to escape the labyrinth and ultimately triumph over the villainous masterminds behind the deathtrap.