Spirit Warden

Spirit Warden

Spirit Warden is a narrative puzzle game set in a dystopian future where nature has widely reclaimed its control of world. You play as a spirit, Ashe, who has awoken with no memory of her past. Ashe is tethered to the world only by a soul-bond with a young girl traveling alone with a dog. Compelled by an innate urge to help the child, Ashe accompanies her on the long journey ahead. 

The child, Ayra and her dog, Yuma, are traveling with the goal of climbing a tall mountain in the distance. Ayra carries a small pouch containing her parent’s ashes, tasked to scatter them on the tallest peak in the land. 

Throughout the game Ayra is faced with environmental and confrontational challenges. Playing as Ashe, you must use her spirit abilities to possess and move objects to help her. 

Soundtrack:

Follow me!

Gameplay

The gameplay of Spirit Warden is heavily inspired by ‘Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective’. As Ashe, the player possesses objects in the environment and may manipulate them to their advantage. Chaining movement between objects is key as the tether to move between objects is quite restrictive. In some situations when Ayra is in danger the player must think quickly under time constrains to solve the necessary puzzles and keep her safe.

Connection to Theme

When first looking at the prompt artwork I was immediately drawn to the human-like figure looking down on the girl. I interpreted it as a spirit guiding the child through the space. This was my leading inspiration when developing the story and soundtrack for Spirit Warden.

Before Your Eyes 

As the player boots up the game, they are met with an opening cinematic recounting the death of Ashe. Jarring flashes her of memories are shown, split seconds apart from one and other before cutting to a view of the towering mountain and wind-swept plains. 

Spirit Warden

The main menu track. The camera is fixed on the same shot of the mountain. A constant breeze is gracefully swaying the grass and trees in the area. 

Distant Memories

The player is introduced to the main characters in the story: Ashe, Ayra and Yuma. Ashe has just awoken reborn as a ghostly spirit. She struggles to remember anything from her past life. Ayra is a resourceful young girl set on a mission to spread her parent’s ashes on the summit of the distant mountain. Yuma is Ayra’s pet dog.  Ayra and Yuma collect firewood, mournful over the passing of her sister, Ashe. Ayra can’t see that Ashe is with her in spirit-form. 

This section acts as the gameplay tutorial. The player (controlling Ashe) is introduced to basic movement in spirit-form and must complete a couple of basic puzzles, helping Ayra source the wood for the fire. 

A Long Road Ahead

Ayra and Yuma begin their journey towards the mountain. Ashe guides them through a dense forest, helping them navigate difficult terrain by possessing and manipulating items in the environment.

Ancient City

To progress, Ayra and Yuma must navigate through a large rundown city, a shell of world once teeming with life. Cars and many other modern pieces of technology are scattered throughout the city streets, long forgotten and reclaimed by nature. Ayra was told stories by her parents of the dangers of these cities. Raiders often fight amongst themselves over what little resources are left over from the old world. 

In this section of the game, Ashe must use their abilities to stealthily guide Ayra and Yuma through the city. Raiders patrolling the city can be distracted and knocked out using objects in the environment to help give Ayra and Yuma safe passage. As they approach the final stretch before escaping unscathed, they are caught in an ambush. Ashe must act fast, chaining together her abilities to disarm the raiders before they fire. 

Loyal Companion

As Ayra narrowly escapes the raiders she notices Yuma slowly limping and inevitably collapses. Yuma, hit by a stray bullet from the raiders passes away in Ayra’s arms. From Ashe’s perspective, Yuma’s soul leaves her body as a spiritual being like herself. The remainder of the raiders approach and surround Ayra. Before they have the chance to fire, Yuma’s spirit quickly dashes and disarms each of the raiders, sending them running in shock and horror. Ashe can now communicate with Yuma’s spirit and unlocks a new ability to use throughout the remainder of the game. 

Alone in This World

Ayra, now completely alone in the world, is even more determined to complete her journey. ‘Alone in This World’ is a short montage of Ayra’s travels before arriving at the base of the mountain.

Base Camp

Ayra, now at the final leg of her journey, must endure the extreme conditions of the towering mountain above. Ashe helps manipulate the terrain to provide Ayra footholds to ascend.

The Summit

After a gruelling climb, Ayra finally makes it to the summit of the mountain. Her journey is almost complete. She takes out a pouch filled with the ashes of her deceased parents and scatters them into the vast open air, overlooking the immense journey she overcame. As she scatters the ashes, Yuma and Ashe feel themselves being pulled into the ether. In this brief moment, their spirits are conjured into reality where Ayra finally sees the loved ones who were by her side throughout her journey. They share a brief, emotional embrace before Ashe and Yuma fade away. Their journey is complete.