BAFTA/Elizabeth Orji-Smith Creatively Bankrupt (Desktop, Console – Nintendo Switch) - Elizabeth Orji-Smith (17), London
“An Action RPG about a small animation crew turned part-time robin hood heist group snoop around studios in a hyperbolic entertainment built city to share once exclusive resources, balance the scales, and bust open the big score - the secret vault!”
The entertainment industry has grown vastly, literally shaping Blast City into something almost fantastical - weird, new studios are being built rapidly and new contraptions are being made to aid the creation process. Unfortunately, many groups and companies have started hoarding these resources for themselves like secret family recipes, trying to be the best of the best, them alone.
The story is of a freelance animation studio with different skill-sets trying to break down barriers. Their goal is to collect the private tools and secret tech from other groups, retrieve copies, and provide versions that are able to be distributed for everyone to use. Other groups and sources help them with funding and quirky heist supplies, and you’ll hear their stories of triumphs and struggles as well.
The final goal is to get to the secret vault held by a once benevolent but now closed off superteam - it’s said to contain animation reels, cells and tools no longer accessible anywhere…
No heist is the same in the campaign, and learning how to deal with the problems you’ll face is the main core of the game - because no heist can really go smoothly.
Strong use of colour will be used to convey a bouncy, snappy environment. Homely, warm colours to show familiar, safe environments. Deep and flashy colours to show the riskiness and excitement of the heists. Top off with a mix of contemporary flourishes as it’ll be in a contemporary typesetting.
The game will be 2.5D as there will be different perspectives for different segments of the game. This’ll be seen when exploring the hub (represented by your team’s studio/underground heist base) and other places in the city (An acme adjacent themed prank shop, a pizza store to get contacts, etc.).
My game is rated PEGI 12 but my target audience is wide. At the core, it’s a designed to be a fun multiplayer game that promotes teamwork where any mix of people can jump in, be it a father and daughter, a trio of students, or a group of co-workers. The main campaign hopes to ring true to different age demographics - pushing the philosophy of ‘sharing is caring’ to more stronger pleas of unionisation and a stronger, open artistic community.
