Writing Prompts inspired by Indie Video Games: Part 2
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We’re back with more writing prompts inspired by some of my favourite indie video games! Quick intro: this is my way of shedding some light on some of my favourite video games that you’ve probably never heard of, as well as hopefully spreading some inspiration to any fellow storytellers and writers out there. Make sure you check out Part 1 as well for more story inspiration!
Anyway, let’s begin!
1. Postmouse & Hoa
Postmouse is a 3D puzzle platformer, developed by Critters Collective, where you play as a little mouse who delivers post around his woodland home to all of the other animal residents. As calm, cosy and cute as the premise is, you’d be surprised by some of the moments of peril our timid little postmouse must go through! The game is also completely free, as it was actually a student project. I hope the students got top grades cos it’s genuinely pretty good!
Hoa is a 2D puzzle platformer, developed by Skrollcat Studio, with INCREDIBLE Studio Ghibli vibes! If you’ve ever watched a Studio Ghibli film, you’ll know exactly what I mean as soon as you try this game! Also, the soundtrack for this game is one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard! Please go and give it a listen, even if you have no interest in playing the game itself! Anyway, in the game, you play as a little fairy called Hoa, exploring a magical forest to find out what happened to her family in the past.
Since the settings and vibes of both games go so well together, how about this for a crossover writing prompt? – One day, as a little postmouse is busy scampering through the forest to deliver all his letters to the residents of the woods, he comes across a tiny leaf boat floating down the river. On closer inspection, he finds a baby fairy inside! He has no idea where she came from, but she’s all alone, with no one else to take care of her. So, reluctantly, he takes her in and raises her. Over the years, the little mouse takes her on some of his postal deliveries around the forest. They meet the other woodland creatures and have some misadventures, as the little fairy is learning to use her magic. Eventually, the little fairy begins to remember her old home. She has flashbacks to what happened to her, and how she ended up on that leaf boat. Part of her wants to go and find her old home again. But the other part of her doesn’t want to leave her adoptive father behind. What will she do?
In Hoa, you find out specifically what did happen to her and her family in the game, but obviously there’s room here for you to invent whatever backstory for her you feel like. Without spoiling the game too much, Hoa was sent away on her little leaf boat at the beginning of the game in order to escape some sort of catastrophe. I do love a good tragic backstory! And I also love stories about unlikely people becoming parental figures reluctantly.
Weirdly, in Postmouse, the mouse character you play as is never given an actual name. All the other characters just refer to him as Postmouse. Obviously, you could give him any name you like for your story, but if I was to give him a name, I’d call him Tuke! The reason is because, here in the UK, Sir Brian Tuke was the man in charge of creating the 1st national postal network in our country, back in 1516. So, it feels appropriate, and I think Tuke sounds cute for a mouse!
2. Amphora & Beyond Eyes
Amphora is a 2D puzzle point-and-click game, developed by Moondrop, with a very unique visual style, as the whole game is inspired by shadow theatre traditions. There’s no dialogue in the game; the story is told purely through its visuals. So, it’s a little unclear exactly what you are in the game, but you seem to play as this spirit inside an amphora (a big jar/vase). As this spirit, you are able to manipulate the setting by moving objects in order to help the characters complete certain tasks and progress the story. The story follows a person from babyhood to adulthood, so I suspect this amphora is a family heirloom of sorts.
Beyond Eyes is a walking simulator, developed by Tiger & Squid, where you play as a young girl called Rae who is blinded at the beginning of the game in an accident. She finds it difficult to adjust, but a cat called Nani who comes to visit her house every day helps makes things a little easier. That is, until Nani goes missing, so Rae decides to leave the safety of her family home to try and find them. Since Rae is blind, the game’s visuals are very clever with how they represent her blindness. The entire world is completely white, but then bits of the world get painted in as Rae slowly walks around and discovers her environment. It has a painted watercolour style that is very pleasing to look at!
So, here’s my writing prompt! – You are the spirit of a family ancestor, trapped inside a necklace that has been passed down through your family for generations. Although you are trapped, you can use your spiritual powers to move objects that are near you. For generations, you have secretly been helping your descendants live their lives, while they remain oblivious to your existence. One day, after spending quite a few years inside a dusty old box, you are finally opened up and gifted to your great-great-great-‘however-many-greats’ granddaughter. She was recently blinded in an accident, and her parents believe that this family heirloom brings good luck, hence they gift it to her after the accident. One day, while she’s sitting out in the garden, wearing you, you try and cheer her up by luring a cat to her. You’re delighted to see that she and this cat become fast friends, and the cat comes to visit her every day. But then suddenly, the cat doesn’t come and visit. Several days past, and still no cat. The little girl wants to try and find her new cat friend, so naturally, you do your best to help her navigate the world past her garden walls with your guiding hand.
In Amphora, like I said before, the spirit you play as seems to be trapped inside a large vase. But since that would be impossible to carry around with you all the time, I figured having the spirit trapped inside an item you can wear all the time with ease would make the most sense. How or why is the spirit of this one ancestor trapped inside a necklace? That’s up to you to decide, fellow writer!
3. Rainy Season & Rumu
Rainy Season is a narrative-driven game, developed by Inasa Fujio, about a kid having to spend time indoors because it’s raining outside. Despite how ‘boring’ the initial premise might sound, lots of strange events happen around the house, as this kid uses their imagination to keep themselves entertained. The game is also set within an urban Japanese household, so it was interesting getting to see what homelife is like for a culture different from mine.
Rumu is also a narrative-driven game, developed by Robot House, where you play as a robot vacuum cleaner that becomes more sentient and self-aware as the game progresses. You are guided by the watchful eye of the house’s AI, Sabrina, who…might be hiding something important from you…Anyway, I love this game in particular! For such a simple idea, this game delivers one hell of an emotional gut punch at the end!
And without further ado, my writing prompt! – A young, mischievous kid is sent away to spend the summer with their estranged aunt, in her very modern, state-of-the-art, futuristic house. The aunt is a scientist and inventor after all. Although all the robots around the house are cool, the kid is still pretty bored because their aunt spends all day in their private lab, doing research or inventing something. The kid spends most days outside in the garden playing, therefore. But one day, it’s raining cats and dogs! Now they’re REALLY bored! So, they explore the house again on their own, until they come across an old closest they hadn’t spotted before. It’s strange how everything else in the house is so neat and pristine, but this one closest is a cluttered mess. Inside, the kid finds a tiny robot vacuum cleaner that can talk. With nothing better to do, the kid plays with the robot by making messes for them to clean up. But over time, this little robot starts to become more self-aware, more capable of emotion, and the two become friends. But why did their aunt create a robot vacuum cleaner that can talk and learn emotions? The kid and their new robot friend decide to explore rooms in the house they’re not allowed into to find out!
No spoilers, but in Rumu, there’s an incredibly tragic plot twist that’s revealed as to why Rumu is the way he is. Why he’s capable of love even though he’s just a vacuum cleaner! So, you could have some interesting fun coming up with why someone would want to create a sentient vacuum cleaner. Also, I decided to make the estranged family relative an aunt simply because I don’t think we get enough female representation in science in media, but you could make the family relative anyone really!
But anyway, those are a few more of my story ideas, inspired by indie games! Let me know what other writing prompts you can think of from these games, or if there are any video games you like that would make good writing prompts. Thanks for reading and have a lovely day!
Sources
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2273550/Postmouse/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1484900/Hoa/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/331510/Amphora/