Bubble Buds...
is a cooperative 3D puzzle game prototype created for the "Concours Universitaire d'Ubisoft 2024." It was nominated for five awards: Best Game Design, Best User Experience, Best Challenge and Technical Innovation, Best Creativity and Theme Integration, and Best Prototype.
My Role
This was my first experience as a narrative designer, and I absolutely loved it. Through this project, I discovered a passion for storytelling in video games—how intricate it can be and how challenging it is to communicate that vision to both my team and the players. Much of the process was based on a "trust me" approach as I worked to bring the story to life. In this project, I:
- Established the backstory of the characters to give depth and meaning to their quests.
- Designed environmental objects that helped convey the story.
- Developed ways for players to see their progress through changes in the environment.
- Conducted research and integrated sound and music to enhance the overall experience.
Characters
The creation of these characters was shaped by three main restrictions: the game’s theme had to revolve around dreams, it needed to be multiplayer, and it had to be suitable for all ages. With that in mind, I needed to design characters that fit these criteria, and that’s how Alex and Charlie came to life.
To meet the multiplayer requirement, I needed more than just one character, but simply having more wouldn’t be interesting. I needed something to connect them, and that connection was their friendship. Alex and Charlie have been best friends since kindergarten, spending so much time together that they even share the same dream.
Before diving into the dream concept, it’s important to remember—they’re just kids. Kids love to play, imagine wild adventures, blow bubbles, and they absolutely despise homework, nightmares, and their grades. What better way to tell a story than by embracing these classic childhood themes?
The reason they end up in a dream is tied to their homework. Since they weren’t paying attention in class, their teacher assigned them extra work. They planned to tackle it together, so they called each other later that day from their rooms. However, while working on it, they both fell asleep. When they woke up, they found themselves in a colorful, magical dream world where they had a blast. But, as we all know, the longer you sleep, the weirder your dreams become. That’s exactly what happened to them—soon enough, their dream turned into a nightmare.
Progression
To illustrate the player's progression, I chose a "get weirder" approach. The game starts in a vibrant, colorful world where the music and environment are visually pleasing. However, by the second level, things take a strange turn, becoming increasingly surreal and unsettling.
This progression is inspired by the kids’ homework and their dislike for their teacher. Like any assignment, things start off easy—you’re just getting your feet wet. But as you move further, the complexity increases, and that’s when the real challenge begins—this is where the nightmare sets in. It mirrors how assignments can become overwhelming, requiring more focus and effort to push through.
Additionally, just like with homework, there’s a looming deadline. This is reflected in the game through environmental storytelling. As players advance, the clocks in the environment grow larger, and the hands on the clocks start to move faster, creating a sense of urgency.
Cinematic
I quickly realized there was no clear way to provide context for what the player was doing. The game lacked dialogue and didn’t have a "mentor" character to explain the story or the player’s role. To address this, I decided to include a cinematic. However, animating the characters, setting up camera shots, and rendering everything would have taken too much time.
The solution I came up with was a slideshow-style cinematic, where the images were hand-drawn to look like kids' drawings. This saved time, as the images were easy to modify and implement, and it fit perfectly with the game’s style and the team's vision.
Story
This is the story of two kids, Alex and Charlie, who have been friends since kindergarten. They love playing together, imagining all sorts of adventures, and most of all, blowing bubbles and watching them pop. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but their fun started to affect their schoolwork and grades. In class, they hardly ever listened, so their teacher gave them extra homework to help them catch up with the rest of the class. To Alex and Charlie, the teacher suddenly seemed like a monster out to "destroy" their fun, and they hated it. But eventually, they decided to tackle the homework to prove they could do it. After school, they called each other and got to work. Unfortunately, they both fell asleep while doing it. When they woke up, something strange happened—they found themselves in the same dream...