Babel Tower

The top down adventure game
The tower building game
The shopping page

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The story is the highlight of our game, and I encourage you to take some time to play it and read the ending. The story will surprise you, and it may take you around 10 minutes to complete if you choose the 'real' difficulty. We've incorporated a lot of metaphors into the game, and the interpretations of these metaphors can be found in the final spoiler session.

Inspiration

The global waste trade is a pressing issue that we are currently facing. Developed countries are producing an excessive amount of waste, which is then shipped to other countries for disposal. However, this process often results in harm to the people and the environment. To raise public awareness and concern about this issue, we would like to create a role-playing game (RPG) that addresses the global waste trade and its impacts.

What it does

This game comprises four main components:

Storytelling slide shows that tell players the story of the game.
A top-down adventure map that allows players to control the main character's movements and navigate through the environment.
A tower-building game where players must construct their own tower.
A shop page where players can purchase items and upgrades for their character In the top-down adventure map, players must control the main character through the environment, collecting itemss and avoiding threat along the way.

How we built it

I utilized Flutter to develop this application. The top-down adventure map component of the game was created using Flame Engine, while the other parts were built with standard widgets.

Challenges we ran into

We require an indicator to display the direction of collectable items in the top-down adventure map, helping the player to find the collectable items. The indicator should disappear when the collectible item is within the camera's view and reappear when it's not. As this functionality is not available in Flutter Flame's standard components, we've created custom classes to achieve this effect.

What we learned

This is our first attempt at creating a top-down game using Flutter Flame, and we have learned various components of the framework in the process. Additionally, we have prepared some assets, including our first attempt at creating pixel art.

Spoiler !!!!

If you want to experience the game's story, we suggest you finish the game first. If you're busy, you can also read the following spoiler. Additionally, you can come back to this session to learn about the metaphor in the game after you've finished it.

You play the role of a man living in a garbage mountain. You have to work hard to feed your wife and children, but you can't find a decent job in this country. Your wife constantly complains that you don't bring home enough money.

One day, a businessman approaches you and asks you to join his project to build a tower. He promises to pay you once the project is finished. He has prepared the building materials, but you have to transport them yourself.

You start searching for the materials, and along the way, you encounter various threats, including zombies (poison), mosquitoes (disease), ghosts (death), and explosions (war/violence). You must play carefully to avoid these threats, or you'll die. You also have to collect rubbish on the ground to sell it. Otherwise, you can't have enough family expense to feed your family.

You eventually build the tower using the materials you've collected, but you soon realize that the businessman's true intention was not to build a tower at all. The materials you used are actually trash, and he only wanted to get rid of them. You've helped him dispose of the garbage by stacking it up like a tower.

The tower in the game is a metaphor for human achievement. People strive to build something greater than others, but this pursuit of success comes at a cost. It consume the resource on the Earth and leads to poor living conditions in developing countries, and pollution on Earth. In the game, you work hard to build your achievement, but the ultimate outcome is that you've brought trash and toxic substances into your home, harming yourself in the end.