Art by Peter Klijn.
Royal Tea (Global Game Jam 2016)
It is no secret that I am a bit of a tea geek. So when the theme of 2016's Global Game Jam was revealed to be ‘Ritual’, I wanted to do a game about a tea ritual. Somehow, I managed to convince the team that this was a good idea.
Manuel Kerssemakers, Valentijn Muijrers, Peter Klijn, Tim de Roos and myself imagined an ailing Asian Emperor. The poor man suffers with all kinds of maladies, ranging from the mundane (say, a horrible rash) to the exotic (say, surprise tentacles). The player controls the Royal Healer, and is tasked with curing these afflictions. The cure of choice is, clearly, always tea. The player would select herbs from a number of plants, and brew them at exactly the right temperature to make the perfect Royal Tea (pun fact: it took me several weeks to realise that the name 'Royal Tea' is a terrible wordplay. So unlike me).
The design really came alive when Valentijn showed up with a teapot, brewing appliances and thee actual, living plants. He hooked these objects to a Makey Makey – a device that converts electric currents into virtual keystrokes. Because of this wizardry, the game could now be controlled directly by handling the china and touching the right plants.
It is no secret that I am a bit of a tea geek. So when the theme of 2016's Global Game Jam was revealed to be ‘Ritual’, I wanted to do a game about a tea ritual. Somehow, I managed to convince the team that this was a good idea.
Manuel Kerssemakers, Valentijn Muijrers, Peter Klijn, Tim de Roos and myself imagined an ailing Asian Emperor. The poor man suffers with all kinds of maladies, ranging from the mundane (say, a horrible rash) to the exotic (say, surprise tentacles). The player controls the Royal Healer, and is tasked with curing these afflictions. The cure of choice is, clearly, always tea. The player would select herbs from a number of plants, and brew them at exactly the right temperature to make the perfect Royal Tea (pun fact: it took me several weeks to realise that the name 'Royal Tea' is a terrible wordplay. So unlike me).
The design really came alive when Valentijn showed up with a teapot, brewing appliances and thee actual, living plants. He hooked these objects to a Makey Makey – a device that converts electric currents into virtual keystrokes. Because of this wizardry, the game could now be controlled directly by handling the china and touching the right plants.
