Narrative + World

Story premise

A juvenile black cat, Otto, is the runt of a litter of 6 (the name of the cat is chosen by the player at the start of the game. Providing a name for a character, especially if it was chosen by the player, would mean that the player becomes more quickly attached to them. If it works, then the beginning scene I am about to describe would evoke a stronger response of feeling the need to do something – motivation. For the sake of the story, I’m naming the cat Otto, but the gender of the cat can be boy or girl). The mother was a stray, meaning that finding food, water and shelter was difficult but necessary to survive. Every day, the litter was left in a bush behind a set of houses in Kitusbury while the mother left to find resources. One unfortunate day came when Otto strayed too far from the rest and got lost trying to find his way home again. A man came in a rush, picked up and took Otto to his place.

Otto’s life there wasn’t pleasant. The food wasn’t sufficient, the place stank and the man was aggressive and abusive. For a long while, Otto was forced to breed with other cats despite being so young. Otto had enough and manages to escape the room he was kept in. (One of the future missions in the story would be focused around helping the rest of the animals’ escape).

[cutscene]
He makes it onto the street where he’s overwhelmed by the amount of people there and starts sprinting off towards a bridge away from all the people. He jumps up on the bridge wall and gets jump scared by a barking dog and falls into the river below. He is swept downstream for a bit but then manages to grab hold to a truck of a tree that had fallen into the water. He has ended up on the shore of the woodland area. Whilst making his way through the woodland, he gets startled by different creatures and chased by a large fox. This is the first time that Otto is introduced to Nala (long grey-haired, female cat) as she attacks the fox and carries Otto to the first checkpoint in the game.

This is the true start of the game.

Worldbuilding

The world is set in present-day UK in a woodland-surrounded town called (Kitusbury). There are 2 maps that the player can explore. The player starts in the woodland map, which has upper and lower levels from the ground floor and filled with various different animals that the player can interact with. Danger presents itself in the form of territorial animals, predators and tricky land navigation. Some parts of the map are blocked off by puzzles or stronger enemies, preventing the player from continuing that way unless they solve the puzzle or defeat the enemy. Most sections of the woodland have a very positive, friendly tone that makes the player want to explore more and have fun whilst doing so. More dangerous territory should have a more threatening look, darker colours, unsettling or tense music and perhaps animal tracks to warn the player.

The town is the other map, connected to the woodland by a bridge (loading screen). Danger here comes in the form of cars, drunken people, aggressive superstitious people (black cats in the South are more likely to be seen as back luck whereas they are seen as good luck in the North), and Animal Snatchers. There is not as much freedom in the town to climb and go below the surface, but finding a welcoming household makes the survival a lot easier. The cheerful tone does also appear in the town, especially at the town square where all the shops are close by and pop-up stalls happen to be set up.

Characters & Roles

Name: (up to player)
Gender: (up to player)
Age (cat years): 1 1/2
Appearance: Short, black hair. Quite petite.
Role: The player character, main protagonist

Name: Nala
Gender: Female
Age (cat years): 6
Appearance: Long, grey hair. Larger than player character, elegant.
Region: Woodland / Town
Role: Domesticated, outdoor cat that picks the player up if their health reaches 0. Before the screen goes to black after the player character faints, Nala meows off screen, making it evident that she is the one who brings you back to safety. She has a home in a cottage in the woodland which can be seen in the background a minutes’ walk from the bridge.

Name: Scribble
Gender: Male
Age (cat years): 4
Appearance: Short, grey hair. Larger than player character, stockier.
Region: Woodland
Role: Feral cat that can be befriended by the player and can even tag along with them on their adventures through the woodland. He will be able to assist with fighting and, when near the character, attacks snakes so you don’t have to.

Name: Tricky
Gender: Male
Appearance: Large fox.
Region: Woodland
Role: If his den is intruded, he will chase and attempt to bite the player. Can be escaped by climbing a tree, crawling in a small space or heading to the player’s safe zone.

Name: Animal Snatcher
Gender: Male
Appearance: Tall, slender figure. Grey hoodie with the hood pulled over the face and faded blue jeans.
Region: Town
Role: Tries to capture the player every once in a while, if the player is exploring the town. The player can outrun the animal snatcher or hide. If the player gets caught, it resorts in a small fight scene where they have to scramble their way out of the Snatcher’s grasp. Failure to do so teleports you back to the room of the abusive man’s house. The player has to escape like they did at the beginning of the game to continue playing. The implication being the snatcher is associated with the map.

Superstitious archetype
Despite how the majority of the beliefs in the UK that black cats are unlucky have changed to be good luck, there are still places such as the US, Belgium and Spain that still consider them to be very unlucky. I feel that there are still going to be people in the UK that are superstitious and think that black cats are bad luck. The game exaggerates this and has scattered a few aggressive superstitious NPCs around the town. Coming in contact with them would cause harm to the player as the NPC would start becoming increasingly hostile. It starts with small comments and builds up to physical violence. Unfair situations meant to evoke an emotion of upset.

Example scenarios

If the player wanders into a fox den, you will hear a yap before the fox chases you. Climbing up a tree can save you, as can fighting back, heading to your closest checkpoint or crawling in a small space. The fox will try and get to the player for a few seconds, then wait for a few seconds before heading back to its den. If Scribble is with the player, it will imitate how the player responds to the fox.

Another moment of the game is that the player character will sometimes get approached by a snake. In the even of this happening, time will slow, the camera will zoom in slightly whilst the snake raises its body ready to strike The (X) button will suddenly appear with a few seconds to respond. Successfully hitting the (X) button in time will cause the player character to scratch the snake and cause it to slither away. Not hitting the button in time will result in the snake biting the player and therefore losing a life. If Scribble is with the character, he will automatically attack the snake, preventing this encounter.