< Back to Game Design

Project Islander is a Game Design and World Building project created by Elise Valla.  Currently, it only exists as a Design Document, Layout Maps, and Concept Art, but production will soon start in UE4.  It will be an Adventure/Puzzle game for PC.

You play as an anthropologist with a special talent for languages sent with a team to investigate a newly discovered island in the South China Sea.  Your team's helicopter crashes, leaving you alone to explore this mysterious island.  You must survive the island's deadly inhabitants, learn the ways of the non-human natives, solve ancient puzzles, and rescue any human survivors left on the island.

Gameplay will primarily consist of walking around and exploring in a first person perspective.  You will collect items to use in puzzles, learn the native language and interact with the Ahkra (the native race based on the species of Loris), and use an in-game camera to catalog the local flora and fauna.  The camera can also be used to capture information and clues in the world for later reference.

The project began with researching the region known as Indochina.  The indigenous tribes, animals, and plants have all contributed to the feel and culture of the Ahkra people and their island, Taran.  The Ahkra themselves have been heavily developed.  They consist of 3 tribes, each with their own clothing and architectural styles, who live in different regions of the island.  They share a religion and a language, and regularly meet to trade and celebrate religious holidays.  After the native race was developed, a basic Field Guide of the native animals was created, and the layouts of the island and villages were drawn up.  Then, the main characters were created, and the game plot written.  The game's puzzles, of which there are 9, were then designed to fit into the story.  All of these elements were then arranged into a Design Document, ready for production. 

To read the Design Document in its entirety, click here!

< Back to Game Design