The Design of Awakening: The Redleaf Forest – Developer Interview

We were happy to talk to All About Casual Game about the final installment of the Awakening series. Here’s an interview with the game designers, Sam and Cara.

Cara: As the years (or even just months) progress, our technology, skills, and experiences also progress and develop. With every new game we release there is always something new added to the mix. We learn from the players of our past games and try to direct our game design towards the ideal of what our players enjoy the most in HOPA games.

Sam: We introduced a new bonus garden system where the player can cross seeds to collect laughing lilies. It’s the first time the Awakening series had a way to spend collectibles. The bonus puzzle that comes with the Collector’s Edition was also moved to the garden.

You will also notice that there is a new traveler companion panel on the left side, where the goals used to belong. This panel is important to the storyline because it shows the characters that the player is traveling with. Another big notable change is in the dialog system. Awakening games, even up to the Sunhook Spire, used square-styled dialog panels, mandatory for the players to click to find information. The Redleaf Forest introduced an immersive system that follows the trend of latest hidden object games. It also introduced panels that the players would not need to click through to have a more fluid play.

A large improvement from the past games would be the hint system as well. Now the players will have an easier time using hints because it takes them to the scene that they have to get to. The hint system also highlights the inventory item that they need to use.

We have new types of puzzles found in the game as well. A lot of the hidden object scenes of this game in particular have extra mechanics in their play apart from just finding objects.

How did you come up with the puzzles and minigames? 

Sam: I’m not sure if people will be surprised, but anything creative normally ends well with a good amount of research. The team sifted through a lot of games then figured out how to improve them and make it our own. The challenge with the hidden object puzzle adventure genre is that entirely new and innovative puzzles are often really hard to grasp for players. The team was very careful in making sure the new mechanics were understandable and that the subgames had a strong, working base by researching puzzles that already worked and spoke for themselves.

Any challenges in incorporating the fantasy theme?

Sam: I think incorporating a fantasy theme is more of an advantage. For example, if we need a subgame to be more understandable, we can create a magical item to solve it (like a visual sphere). It’s also easier to incorporate strange, fresher ideas with a fantasy theme, because it has a higher threshold for breaking the player’s suspension of disbelief. That said, the biggest challenge for the fantasy genre would be to create intuitive but unusual fantasy objects. The team solved this issue by making sure most items have a resemblance to real-world object, so that the player can guess its functionality easily.

We meet many fantasy characters here. Can you describe them and the roles they play in the story?

Sam: For enemies, we have a notably gigantic ogre, a mining golem, and of course, the main antagonists, Grimble and Dreadmyre. The inhabitants of the Redleaf Forest aren’t exactly peacefully living among each other either, so Sophia has to work her way around this. She meets a myriad of centaurs and dwarves. The centaurs are a natural and magic-oriented race. The dwarves are an industrious and wealthy race.  Sophia needs the help of both races to defeat Dreadmyre.

From a princess to a queen, how has Sophia’s character developed in the series?

Cara: I especially enjoyed watching her growth as seen by the way she interacted with the world we made for her. In the Dreamless Castle, her world was so small and she only had to look out for herself; but as she moved forward, her world grew larger until she was not only moving forward for her own intentions and the sake of her people, but for the sake of other races as well. The obstacles she had to face at the beginning were mostly locked doors. Later on, Sophia has faced many enemies head on. Sophia had a lot of help from her friends before and although she still has companions in the latest game, she may need to put even her own life on the line – like a true queen.

Who is your favorite character in the Awakening world?

Sam: Princess Andreia!

Cara: Need that be asked? It’s Sophia, of course! I also love Andreia! She’s too adorable!

How about in terms of sceneries? The Redleaf Forest also featured countless beautiful locations. Which one is your favorite?

Sam: Without a doubt, the entrance to the dwarven village is my favorite scene.

Cara: That’s a really hard question. I honestly like all of the scenes in all of the Awakening games and am always admiring the artworks done by my fellow teammates. But forcefully choosing one, perhaps I would choose the rose garden scene in the bonus chapter because I like scenes with skies. It’s also near the final scene so there’s a sentimental value to it too.

What was your inspiration for the ending?

Sam: The team really wanted a happy ending suitable for fairytales, which is the primary inspiration for the Awakening series. On a personal level, I supported this direction because I’m a sucker for happy endings and I’d feel pretty bad if Sophia’s story ended tragically after all she’s been through.

Does the release of this game mean that there would be no more Awakening games in the future?

Sam: It’s the end of Sophia’s adventures though we’d love to continue working on this series. Right now, you can get a glimpse of Sophia in Awakening Kingdoms, an endless free-to-play game, but the Awakening world is vast and we might create another game if the fans are craving for more!

What do you think is the best part of the game that players should look forward to? 

Sam: Apart from the last hour of this game being the conclusion and the revealing the story of Dreadmyre himself, I’m really fond of the bonus chapter.

Cara: I agree! I think the best part of the game is the bonus chapter wherein we get a lovely recap of our adventures in the Awakening series. We especially designed the bonus chapter that way as a parting gift from Sophia to our players who had walked the same road as we have.

What is your message for these players?

Sam: I can’t express my gratitude enough to the fans. Thanks for playing this far! I hope that you love this latest release.

Cara: Thank you to our players for giving life to Sophia – without you, she wouldn’t have gotten this far. She would probably have been stuck in the Dreamless Castle forever! It is sad that we have to part with her, but I think we’ve made a lot of good memories. We, the developers, hope you enjoyed our joint adventure in Sophia’s world and hope that you continue to grace us with your patronage in our next endeavors.