Albin Pettersson

Level Designer & Game Designer

World Ender

A first person puzzle experience

Introduction

In this project I wanted to create an intense and visually focused puzzle experience set in a mystical environment where the world is reaching it's end. It's your mission to solve the trials and reach the time orb to restore the world to what it once was before it's too late. Taking inspiration from games like The Talos Principle, It takes Two and Outer Wilds

I wanted to focus on managing tension in a game without enemies and introduce the core mechanics in a natural progression. My aim was also to prototype and find fitting puzzle mechanics to support the tension that I wanted.

Breakdown

  • 6 weeks half-time
  • Unreal Engine 5.6

  • Self Scripted Gameplay

  •  

    Models made in Blender

  • Focus on Game Design, Tension, Worldbuilding and puzzle mechanics

 

External Assets

  • VFX Pack
  • etc

Overview

Bridge Introduction
 1. Bridge Introduction
 2. Hand Stair
 3.  Broken Bridge
 4.  Lava Cliff Lookout
 5. The Tower Gate
 6.  Mountain Statue
 7.  Gravity Climb
 8. The elevator
 9.  Inside of Tower

Full Walktrough

Process

Immersive and unique mechanics

The Fracture Rewind

The Fracture Rewind is the main mechanic of this level. With this mechanic I wanted to heavily incorporate it into the level design, a mechanic that can impact the level design by unlocking new paths. I utilized it mainly in 3 ways. By repairing something to create a path. By Destroying something to unblock a path. And by stopping the fracture at the right time to find a third path.

Creating contrast

I wanted to create a contrast between the two main puzzle mechanics. Where one, the player gets to control the environment and destroy and repair large parts of it to make the player feel powerful. The other one with the gravity pillars instead does the opposite. The player instead is at the mercy of the environment and needs to adapt to it. It makes for a nice combination at the end where the player gets to utilize them both together after getting time to develop their skills with both of them.

 

The gravity Pillars

The gravity pillars are more straight forward. They simply shift the gravity of the player while they are in the gravity pillars zone.

Prototyping

Setting the metrics

Knowing that I wanted to create a visually unique puzzle experience, I started off by prototyping my mechanics. I wanted to get the metrics and mechanics in place as early as possible so I could Identify potential problems early on and also so I could start iterating on my puzzles.

I knew getting the puzzles feel fun and immersive was going to be a difficult task in such a short time window so I aimed to get the playtesting and feedback going as quick as possible.

Blueprints

I utilize a player gym where I created quick prototypes of the main mechanics. and then iterate and polish them throughout the project while I incorporate them into the actual blockout of the level.

Blueprints

In early prototyping, the level featured three core mechanics, including a player rewind ability inspired by Tracer from Overwatch and Ekko from League of Legends.

Through playtesting, I found that introducing all three in a level focused on teaching the mechanics was overwhelming. Players lacked the time and space to properly explore and master each mechanic, which is a crucial a part in good puzzle design.

So this left me with two options:
A) Extend the level to spread out the mechanics introductions more
B) Cut the rewind mechanic entirely and put more focus on the other two

Given the scope and limited production time, I chose the second option and cut the feature.

In hindsight this decision resulted in a more focused, readable, and well-paced introduction.

Gathering References

Mood & Setting

An important part of this level was nailing the the mystical and tense environment. I wanted to focus on subverting expectations, managing the tension and immersing the player. I needed the mood and setting to support these key elements and began gathering references that felt fitting for this.

Design goals & Game Beats

Early in the project i start by writing down my design goals aswell as the main game beats that I want to incorporate, and try to work out a cohesion between the two, making sure that they both suppoort eachother.

Unlike my level beats, these stay pretty unchanged throughout the project making sure I don't stray too far away from the original idea unless I find it necessary.

Level Beats

For my level beats I go into the project with a list of ideas that support my design goals. Through iteration and playtesting I change and move around these as I see needed to improve the experience. The list I create like this is then the basis I use to start by Rough blockout. And after creating my first rough blockout is where I can then identify problems and make changes to my level beats if needed.

Design Techniques

Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu

Introduction (Ki)

I start of by introducing the time fracture mechanic to the player making it clear that they can use it to repair and unlock a new path forward. Through some framing with the bridge I also highlight landmarks and set up goals for the player moving forward.

Development (Ten)

I start of by introducing the time fracture mechanic to the player making it clear that they can use it to repair and unlock a new path forward. Through some framing with the bridge I also highlight landmarks and set up goals for the player moving forward.

Twist (Sho)

I start of by introducing the time fracture mechanic to the player making it clear that they can use it to repair and unlock a new path forward. Through some framing with the bridge I also highlight landmarks and set up goals for the player moving forward.

Resolution (Ketsu)

I start of by introducing the time fracture mechanic to the player making it clear that they can use it to repair and unlock a new path forward. Through some framing with the bridge I also highlight landmarks and set up goals for the player moving forward.

Tension & Atmosphere

Managing tension

A core focus of this project was building tension purely through the environment with no enemies present in the level. To achieve this, I use funnels before major reveals and trigger scripted world events to control pacing and emotional buildup.

Early playtests showed that repetition quickly reduced impact. For example, a dramatic meteor strike lost its thrill after the fourth occurrence. So just like introducing a new enemy type refreshes combat, introducing new environmental events, scenery shifts, and scale changes keeps tension rising and players on edge.

Below, I showcase examples of both higher-tension and lower-tension moments to highlight how I utilize pacing and environmental variation to shape the player experience.

 

Lower tension

Higher tension

Framing landmarks

A big challenge but also a central part I wanted to focus on in this project was managing the tension through the environment alone, since there are no enemies in the level. I use funnels before my big reveals and utilize various events in the environment to manage the tension. I try to keep the events that happen quite varied to keep it fresh and amke sure the player still experiences tension increases. When workin

 

Guiding the player

A big challenge but also a central part I wanted to focus on in this project was managing the tension through the environment alone, since there are no enemies in the level. I use funnels before my big reveals and utilize various events in the environment to manage the tension. I try to keep the events that happen quite varied to keep it fresh and amke sure the player still experiences tension increases. When workin

 

Introduction of mechanics

Diegetic introductions

A big challenge but also a central part I wanted to focus on in this project was managing the tension through the environment alone, since there are no enemies in the level. I use funnels before my big reveals and utilize various events in the environment to manage the tension. I try to keep the events that happen quite varied to keep it fresh and amke sure the player still experiences tension increases. When workin

 

Utilize environment

In this project I wanted to create an intense and visually focused puzzle experience set in a mystical environment where the world is reaching it's end. It's your mission to solve the trials and reach the time orb to restore the world to what it once was before it's too late. Taking inspiration from games like The Talos Principle, It takes Two and Outer Wilds

Show Don't Tell

A big challenge but also a central part I wanted to focus on in this project was managing the tension

 

Below I showcase some higher tension moments and some lower tension moments.

 

Playtesting & Iterations

Playtesting

In this project I wanted to create an intense and visually focused puzzle experience set in a mystical environment where the world is reaching it's end. It's your mission to solve the trials and reach the time orb to restore the world to what it once was before it's too late. Taking inspiration from games like The Talos Principle, It takes Two and Outer Wilds

Changes based on feedback

In this project I wanted to create an intense and visually focused puzzle experience set in a mystical environment where the world is reaching it's end. It's your mission to solve the trials and reach the time orb to restore the world to what it once was before it's too late. Taking inspiration from games like The Talos Principle, It takes Two and Outer Wilds

I wanted to focus on managing tension in a game without enemies and introduce the core mechanics in a natural progression. My aim was also to prototype and find fitting puzzle mechanics to support the tension that I wanted.

Problems and solutions

Getting the difficulty right

The area i struggled with the most this project was by far the development of the time fracture puzzle, where the player gets one of the pickups from the large statue. In this area I had to let the player expand on the time fracture mechanic in a way that made sense but that also included steps that had been previously introduced. I really wanted to have the player interact with multiple objects here instead of just one like previous parts of the level. However having multiple of these fractures in the same area made the area very cluttered with information and players often felt that it was overwhelming. And to be honest this was and still is a bit of a problem for this area. But what I did to best counteract this was to design the level so it felt natural to still interact with one of the objects at a time, while still having them close by to quickly switch which one you would interact with.

Reflections